Amateur Adventures
by BIG Z1776
Summary: Adventure doesn't take a doctorate, all it takes is swift hands, quick feet, and a strong heart. These three students of the one and only Indiana Jones have that, but for this adventure, they may need more than that. Watch as these young kids go out into a world where Nazis thrive, mysteries grow, and untold treasures lay behind unseen dangers in the far corners of the world.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Indiana Jones or any of its affiliates, like the books, magazines, the game, or the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. I wish I did, that would be kinda awesome.**

**Chapter 1**

Bedford Connecticut, Marshall College

May 4, 1937

There were still a few days left in this, the final semester of the year for Doctor Henry Jones Junior, or as he is known in other select circles, Indiana. He had many, many exams and term papers to grade and hand out so that meant that future adventures were on hold so that he could keep his tenure, and thus his job. The pay was good, some of the students were genuinely interested in archaeology, so it was a good day job. However being an archaeology teacher meant grading tests, creating said tests, and going over each and every one of his two hundred students' projects and papers one by one. It was time consuming of course, but occasionally he found one or two students who really seemed to get it, and showed true potential for becoming archaeologists. As he was working he heard a knock on his office door and saw the face of one of those few good students of his.

He smiled, knowing the blonde hair and blue eyes of his favorite student in his single Introductory Archaeology class. Her name was eighteen year old freshman Elizabeth Downey, daughter of a wealthy New England industrialist who was a prominent booster for Marshall College. She'd been his prize student for his only Intro to Archaeology, getting everything done early and getting it done right. Her grades had made the need to take the final exam an option but she'd opted to take it anyway, so that spoke greatly of her and her commitment to archaeology. In fact it was her major, which was certainly a rarity among the girls in Indiana's classes. She would always stay after, asking about what field work was like, what he did that caused him to be absent for a great deal of time. Of course, he didn't tell her everything, some of the things he encountered were things that only a handful of archaeologists came up against, and the majority of them just packed up and left to save their own skin rather than confronting the causes of the trouble like he had.

But she was pleasant company, and showed all the signs of becoming a great archaeologist, so he was willing to talk to her and take time off of grading to speak to her. So he got up and opened the door, seeing the beaming smile of the young girl as she clutched a notebook to her chest.

"Hello Elizabeth, I'd thought that you had gone home, there's no more class because of exams," he said.

"Well I was going to Professor, but I wanted to ask you about something first," she replied, her fingers nervously tapping on the worn leather bound notebook.

"Alright, I've got a bit of time," Indiana said, motioning for her to sit down.

"Thank you Professor Jones," she said, all but bounding over to the wooden chair in front of his crowded desk, "Remember when I asked about how next semester in the Advanced Archaeology classes one of the requirements was going out into the field on a real archaeological expedition?"

"Yes vaguely, that was early on in the year."

"Well, I've already registered for your class next year, and I was wondering if it were possible to get that field work out of the way early to count towards next year's class?" she continued.

"You've got something in mind already?" he asked, curious as to what this young student was driving at, "It's not all that common for a freshman student to go on an expedition before prompted to do so. And even then I can't officially be a part of it as your teacher. The University would never allow it."

"Well I only wanted it as the final project credit. I've been working on the research since I asked the question and I've got it all planned out. We were going to go to Italy."

"Hmm…an expedition to Italy during the summer, good timing. So what exactly is the objective of your…expedition?"

"We want to find the Treasure of the First Emperor," Elizabeth said proudly, "And more specifically the Shield of Gallia. All of it the spoils of war from Caesar conquering the Gauls and stealing the Shield of Gallia from its resting place in Alesia."

"The Lost Treasure of Julius Caesar?" Indiana questioned, arching his eyebrow, "If you've done your research then you would remember that many people have tried finding that treasure themselves, but Caesar never told anyone where he had hidden that treasure, and the secret died with him when he was assassinated in Rome."

"Have you tried Professor?" Elizabeth asked with a definite hint of defensiveness in her voice.

"Well no, I just know when to believe in superstition and when to believe in fact. The Shield of Gallia for example. A giant green ruby said to hold the power of the heathen gods and whoever holds it cannot be killed? You surely don't believe in that do you?"

"Well no," she responded, "But I do think that Caesar was smart enough to hide the spoils of war from his conquests and come back later to fund his position as emperor or to fund the building of a new army in case things went badly."

Indiana chuckled at that, "There are a lot of things that the Romans said happened that we now know to be exaggerations. Caesar's Treasure is one of them. The Roman Emperor's that followed Caesar scoured the Italian Alps looking for it, the Holy Roman Empire looked for it, every single Pope looked for it, the Italian City-States, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and dozens of experienced archaeologists have tried and failed."

Elizabeth felt her heart drop at that, she had hoped that he would fully support her efforts in this endeavor. She'd spent dozens of hours scouring historical accounts, maps, stories, and legends from hundreds of years of history compiling her notes that she now held in her hand.

"Well, I thought we could try, but I guess that if that many people have tried and failed, then it doesn't exist after all," she replied, a bit dejected, but before she got up Indiana said something to her that she hadn't expected to hear after that long explanation.

"But just because people before you have tried and failed doesn't mean that it will happen the same way for you. I'll give you full credit for the expedition upon delivery of a copy of your travel forms, pictures, notes, and reports, or any artifacts that you can dig up."

She looked up and beamed at him, her smile returning brighter than before. She had the sudden urge to jump over the desk and give Indiana a bear hug she was so excited. But, thankfully, she was able to control herself, barely. She jumped to her feet, holding her book in hand.

"Thank you so much Professor!" she squealed, "When I come back you're going to be the first one I show the stuff we find!"

"Elizabeth, calm down, there's still something that I need to know before you decide to do this. Something like this is bound to be dangerous, and you have to understand and plan for a way out in case you're put into a situation where you are in danger."

"I'm taking my brother and his best friend. And my father has friends in Europe that'll take us in and help us leave Europe if things go wrong. I know, I've planned way ahead," she responded proudly.

"And do you speak Italian? Or French? Or German?"

"My brother does, he's a Linguistics Major. And his best friend is a cowboy from Texas who's fought bandits and rustlers on his ranch," _Or at least my brother said he did_, "And my father has given my brother and I enough money to buy all the equipment we need and we have about two thousand dollars of spending money for when we get there."

"I see you have thought ahead," Indiana chuckled, reaching into a file cabinet behind him and pulled out a folder of papers and handed it over to her, "Here's your rubric, and it'll tell you what to do for the part I'll actually grade."

"Oh, okay," she replied, "Is that all?"

"One last thing," Indiana said, "If anything happens where you feel like you or anyone else is in danger you drop everything and catch the first ship home. No amount of gold or jewels is worth your life or the lives of others."

"I understand Professor, and thank you," she said getting to her feet and made her way to the door.

She waved him goodbye as she opened the door and was startled to see Dr. Marcus Brody at the door about to knock as she opened it. She jumped in surprise at nearly walking into him and he too seemed rather flabbergasted at nearly being walked into himself.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry for surprising you my dear. Umm…is Dr. Jones in?" the man pleasantly asked.

"I'm here Marcus, just got finished helping her with a Summer project," Indiana replied.

"Oh? And pray tell, what is it my dear friend has instructed you to do?" Marcus asked.

"I actually asked if an expedition I had planned could go towards counting as a field credit for next year."

"An expedition you say? And what, my dear are you off to find? Some great truth or treasure?" Marcus asked now quite interested.

"The Treasure of the First Emperor, and hopefully the Shield of Gallia," Elizabeth said confidently, not aware that her declaration fell upon the ears of a man wearing a black suit sitting on a chair just around the corner, listening to every word.

"Julius Caesar's lost treasure? My, my, my, that is quite the undertaking. When you return, I would very much like to see any artifacts that you recover, the Museum would be delighted to have such esteemed items in our Roman exhibits," Marcus offered.

"Marcus, she has to find those items first," Indiana said, getting the always opportunistic Marcus Brody to calm down so that Elizabeth could about her business.

"Oh yes of course, well good luck Miss Downey, safe journeys my dear."

"Good bye Doctor Jones, bye Doctor Brody, we'll be back before you know it with tales of adventure and hopefully a chest of treasure."

"I hope so," Indiana chuckled, "Good luck."

* * *

Elizabeth was ecstatic as she fast walked to the library, trying her hardest not to break into a run. Her brother Michael and his roommate and best friend Jackson Williams were waiting in the back corner where the two of them usually met. They were both sophomores, but Jackson, better known on campus as 'The Cowboy' was a young sophomore, roughly the same age as Elizabeth at nineteen years old. At first glance there were no two guys more different than her brother and Jack.

At twenty years old Mike was the oldest of the trio. He had the same blonde hair as his little sister and the same blue eyes. But he kept his hair neatly styled, and more often than not had a simple gray flat cap when he was outside. He was usually wearing a sports jacket worn casually that he used to proudly exhibit his fine physique to the ladies who tended to swoon over him. He was a charmer that was for sure, every week he usually had a new girl on his lap as he spoke eloquent French or Italian to them. He was a Linguistics Major, with the hopes of going into the State Department and work overseas in perhaps Paris, or Rome, or London and see the world. But his true passion was for cars, and anything else new and modern, like the plane, the submarine, or anything that he was ranting about to his nineteenth century friend who was as out of place here as anywhere else.

Jack was a Texas boy that much was for certain. He was never ever seen without his worn brown leather cowboy boots, blue Levis, and a simple cotton long sleeve shirt with his equally worn brown Stetson on his head. He had a shaggy head of medium length brunette hair and most of the time had some stubble on his face from not shaving. He'd more than once gotten into trouble for having another aspect of his Texas culture in his room, his black-handled Colt Peacemaker. The deans had wanted him kicked out, but the person paying for his education, his uncle, had a lot of pull and thus they'd never been able to get him out. The guy preferred to everything the old fashioned way, he didn't like riding in cars, and was deathly afraid of flying. He had actually not wanted to be here, he'd wanted to attend Texas A&M like his father had done, but his father didn't want him to serve in the Army, so he was now here, where his uncle, an oil tycoon, had gone and graduated. But, what kept him here was the genuine friendship he now had with Mike, and the crush he had on Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was bar none the small fry of the trio, at five foot four and hardly one hundred fifteen pounds she was not the ideal picture of an adventurous future archaeologist. But she was not some prissy "Doll" or "Babe" to be had by any boy that winked at her. She'd earned a reputation as the toughest girl for a guy to date in the entire school. But to her infuriation, that just made the boys that much more determined. In fact, hardly a week went by when she didn't go off on someone for not taking the hint that she was not interested in being their girlfriend. Not even the Quarterback of the football team had gotten a date with her. She just seemed to be one of those girls that was a one in a million occurrence, the type of girl that was sure to shake things up wherever she went. Now, entering the library and finding the two guys she was looking for she was about to enter a realm that was not going to be shaken so easily.

"Hello boys," she said happily, sitting across from her brother and Jackson, or Jack for short.

"Well Lizzy? Did you talk to Professor Jones?" Mike asked as she slapped the folder down that contained her assignments and grading rubric.

"Oh yeah, got it all right here. Now all we need to do is pack up and sail to Europe and find that treasure," she said proudly.

"Sounds good to me," Jack said from where he was sitting with his boots propped up on the table, "When do we leave?"

"Father has already chartered a ship for the trip. Destination, London," Mike said, slapping three tickets onto the table which Elizabeth took excitedly, "We leave in three days."

"He got us tickets aboard the _Queen Mary_?! Oh my gosh! I never thought he'd actually go through with it!" she about yelled, getting nasty looks from other students studying for exams they had to take that day.

"Only the best for my little sister," Mike said with a grin, "Besides, this is father you're talking about here Lizzy."

"Oh, right," Elizabeth mumbled, remembering how much her father loved to pamper the two of them, "What about you Jack? Did your family say you could go?"

"I talked with my pa, he said it's alright to go on an adventure of my own. So long as I come back," the Texas boy responded with a simple shrug.

"Will father be meeting us at the ship?" Elizabeth asked, looking at her brother expectantly.

"He said something in Chicago came up, he said he wasn't going to be able to make it. But he said that he'll write us when we get to London."

"Oh," she said, slightly saddened at not being able to say good bye to her father.

"It's alright Elizabeth, he'll be here when we get back. It's not like we're leaving forever you know. We have so much to look forward to, like Paris, London, Rome, and finding that treasure. I know I'm looking forward to having those French girls swooning over me when they hear my French."

"You never know," Jack chuckled, "Ye might meet yerself a nice French girl who actually understands yer frog speak and realizes yer full of shit."

"Oh shutup Cowboy, you're just wanting to see the looks on those Europeans' faces when they see a real life Cowboy and then mystify them with some of your simple rodeo tricks and tales of the Old West."

"Yer damn right," Jack chuckled, bringing his feet down to sit up right to listen into the conversation and actually take part, "So have we got everything all set? I know I'm packed, what about you two?"

"I have a few things I need to check and then I want to write some letters to my friends, saying good bye, and then I'll be good to go," Elizabeth responded.

"Yeah same here," Mike said, "Oh shoot, I need to go down to that gun shop on thirty-first street to pick up something!"

"Gun shop?!" Elizabeth half shouted, "Why would you need to go to the gun shop?!"

"I bought a gun, a Colt 1911. You don't think I would trust his antique revolver to keep us safe do you?" Mike responded.

"We won't need either one of your two guns. We're going to Europe, not the Middle East or South America. We won't have anything to worry about there, trust me."

"I don't know, them Europeans can get a mighty touchy. What with them slapping each other silly and dueling for somethin' as stupid as spilling a drink on a carpet," Jack said, defending his intention of keeping his pistol for the trip.

"You have no idea what Europe is like do you?" Mike asked, looking at his friend with a frown that showed just how disappointed in his friend's knowledge of modern times he really was.

"Nope, not really," Jack chuckled, "What? Do you?"

"Of course I do! Man Europe has stuff that'll make you drool, the cars, the planes, the technology, the class, and the ladies…"

"Oh shutup Mike," Elizabeth said, growing weary of his obsession with the ladies of Europe, "Remember, we're going there to find a treasure, a treasure no one has been able to find for thousands of years. We need to focus, or someone might beat us to it."

"Who would beat us to it? According to what you told us no one is looking for it anymore."

"That's because they looked in the wrong place," she grinned, tapping her notebook, "But I think I know where they haven't looked."

As she continued to explain her plan a lone quiet man sat with his back turned at a table with a few random books he had picked from the nearest shelf. His ears were tuned into every word that the young girl said to her brother and friend. He listened intently, picking up every word, every location, every name that she said, writing it down on his note pad. Occasionally he would flip the page, feigning studying as he listened with the practiced expertise of the spy he was. And not one of the three college kids picked up on it or him.

* * *

**Three Days Later**

* * *

The docks of New York were crowded, stank of fish, and were noisy, and all three future adventurers were glad to be rid of them and to be aboard the largest ship any of them had ever seen. The RMS _Queen Mary_ was a truly awe inspiring ship. Her reputation for luxury, comfort, and class were unparalleled, and hardly anyone even remembered that she was owned by the same company as the ill-fated _Titanic_, White Star Lines. Elizabeth and Mike's father had arranged for them to have a first class suite, with Mike and Jack sharing a room while Elizabeth had a room to herself, as was proper. The two siblings had been in such comforts before, and knew how to act around the other first class passengers that were staying in neighboring rooms.

Jack on the other hand wasn't so graceful around some of the rich and noble social elite that had encountered him. He refused to wear the formal attire that Mike and Elizabeth wore aboard the ship for their departure. So when it came time for dinner to be served and the numerous socialites began migrating to the Verandah Grill, the most exclusive part of the ship, he, Mike, Elizabeth soon became an interest to the elite who would take a seat with them. The two guys had chosen some of their finer dinner attire, with Mike wearing a suit and tie and pressed slacks. Jack however had a bit of trouble, he only had a clean pressed pair of black slacks, and a red long sleeved shirt with a Navajo Bola Tie embroidered with a turquoise stone, and decorated in polished silver. He tried shining his boots with some borrowed shoe polish and they now looked respectable and he'd also bought a new black Stetson for an occasion like this.

So it didn't take long at all for them to get ready for dinner even with some slight pitch of worsening seas as the great ship got further into the North Atlantic.

"What's taking yer sister so long to get dressed?" Jack asked as the two of them sat on a cushioned bench outside of their suite.

"She's always been slow to get dressed, she can never decide on what to wear to anything. Mark my words, we'll spend more time waiting for her to get dressed than we will on the move to find that treasure," Mike said.

"I suppose so, you know women," Jack chuckled.

"Hey! That's my sister you're talking about," Mike calmly snapped.

"Okay boys let's go," all of a sudden called out, making the two friends look back to see the source of the voice.

"Whoa," Jack whispered, staring at Elizabeth in the black dress she was wearing.

"Nice choice sis," Mike said, "Did you have much trouble choosing?"

"I only brought three dresses thank you very much, I don't intend on spending all of this trip socializing, but one must look presentable."

To say she looked presentable was a vast understatement. She had styled her hair to have the left side of her face partly covered with a fake rose hair clip holding it there. Her dress was simple but elegant. It came down to her ankles, allowing her simple black heels to be shown off. It wasn't too modest, but it was cut just so that it didn't leave much to the imagination as to where her body curved. The back was cut just below her shoulder blades with the zipper well hidden in the silken fabric. She had put on a bit of makeup but not too much. She also had a pair of long black gloves on her hands that went to the middle of her forearm to complete the amazing look. She knew what she looked like, and couldn't help but stifle a giggle at seeing Jack's jaw drop to the floor

"Well, time to go Lizzy, we don't want to be late," Mike said, smoothing out his suit and took his sister's arm and walked them towards where they'd be having dinner.

They were roomed amidships, allowing them easy access to just about anywhere on the ship they wanted, and the exclusive bar/restaurant was within a five minute walk. On the way they began to run with a crowd of well-dressed men and women speaking refined English, French, Italian, and even a few words in Spanish were heard. Jack's own dress seemed common by comparison to some of the suits, ties, and jewelry that adorned the upper class gathering. So he noticed the sideways glances of curious men and women looking at him and his definite Western attire.

Once they reached the Verandah Grill they were greeted by an extremely formal waiter who showed them to their table and pulled out a chair for Elizabeth and offered glasses of wine to the three who politely accepted. As they waited and watched they saw several people give them odd glances, and more than once the three heard the word 'Cowboy' among the socialites.

They got up and walked around, sticking together, and tried to converse, but it was the same thing every time. But more than once, a single black haired man smoking a cigarette walked near them and gave all three a truly suspicious look. Mike noticed it, and Jack noticed it, but thankfully Elizabeth didn't notice it. She had enough to worry about being the center of attention as a beautiful young American girl who just so happened to be the daughter of a wealthy businessman well known in Europe.

"You think I'm a little out of place?" Jack joked as he looked around at the swirling mass of finery.

"You think?" Mike prodded.

"I dare say," said an older English gentleman wearing a monocle and cradling a glass of red wine, "I couldn't really believe my eyes when I saw that I was to be seated with you young gentlemen and the young lady."

"I beg your pardon?" Elizabeth asked, taken somewhat off guard by the sudden conversation now thrown her, Mike, and Jack's way from this older man who had seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Oh where are my manners? Charles Goodworth, formerly of the Royal Navy and His Majesty's Ship_ Ajax_," he said, gingerly taking Elizabeth's gloved hand and placing a light kiss on it.

"Elizabeth Downey," she replied curtly, "And this is my brother Michael," she added, motioning to him.

"Delighted," the Brit said, shaking Mike's hand.

"And our friend Jackson Williams," Elizabeth added, motioning to the metaphorical sore thumb of the entire room, "of Dallas, Texas."

"Uh…howdy," Jack said, shaking the offered hand.

"Ah, a real Texas Cowboy! I must say, I have never seen Cowboys outside of the motion pictures and the books of the Old Wild West. Say, is it true that all you Cowboys drive cattle and fight red Indians?" he pressed.

"Uh…well no. But most folks in Texas live in the country, runnin' their own farms with a few ranches spread all over the place. But the Indians were displaced to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. We ain't got no quarrel with them anymore."

"Dinner is served," was suddenly announced from the front of the entire gathering.

"Psst, Jack," Mike whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Don't look, but you see that guy by the window seat smoking a cigarette? He's been watching us since we got on the ship. I don't like him."

"Oh yeah I noticed it too. Something ain't right about that fella."

"Think we should tell Lizzy?" Mike asked.

"Nah, it's probably nothin' just some rich guy who doesn't like us Americans."

"Yeah there's plenty of them around, get used to it. Still, there's something suspicious about him."

"I'll keep an eye on him."

As they gradually began to calm down and enjoy the fine dinner and drinks that were being served the man continued watching them subtly, waiting for his chance...

**And done! Here's to my first Indiana Jones fanfic. I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter, and let me tell you now, things are about to get interesting, very interesting.**

**Next Chapter Preview: The suspicions grow, as does the danger.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

North Atlantic, RMS _Queen Mary_

May 7, 1937

"Boy these fellas sure know how to lay one on ya," Jack chuckled as he walked into their shared suite with Mike half passed out on his shoulder, "I told ya it was a bad idea to challenge the captain to a drinking contest."

"He-he cheated," Mike grumbled, "No one can drink eighteen shots of whiskey."

"I don't see how he cheated, and why am I even reasoning with you? You're drunk off your rocker!" Jack laughed as he dropped his friend onto one of the beds.

"Thanks Jack, I don't think anyone else would have carried him back to the room. Especially seeing how he acted tonight," Elizabeth said as she closed the door behind them and sat down next to her brother and tried pulling his head onto a pillow.

"Well he'll be no trouble tonight, I've seen him drunk before. Now tomorrow morning, I might have to ask for sanctuary in your room 'cause he'll be so hungover that not even all the coffee on this entire ship'll be able to help."

"I know, when he got drunk for the first time when he was fourteen he and I were still sharing a room and I was sick and father had to move me out the next day because he thought Michael had contracted some unknown disease he was puking so bad."

Jack had a good laugh at that little tale, "You would think that he'd learn."

"You'd think," Elizabeth giggled, looking at her brother who was now snoring on the bed just as he lay, "Listen, it's getting late, I think I'm going to go to bed. Maybe you can take me to breakfast tomorrow seeing as Michael will be hungover."

"Sure thing Lizzy, good night," he said seeing her to the door that separated their rooms. Then what she'd said to him suddenly dawned on him and he smiled happily as he went to get ready for bed, "Well partner, looks like I got myself a breakfast date with yer sister."

To that Mike only grumbled in his sleep, "No…cars don't fly…I hate cars that fly."

"Oh boy, you're gonna regret living tomorrow buddy, enjoy this sleep while you can," Jack said, taking off his hat and tossing it onto the nightstand next to his bed and switched off the hall light so that it didn't wake up Mike.

After taking off his turquoise and silver Navajo Bola tie he bent down to pull off his boots but then saw something out of the corner of his eye. The hallway outside of the rooms was always lit for safety reasons and so that made it fairly easy to tell when someone was right outside by the shadow of their feet under the door. He saw a pair shadows move in front of his door, muffled steps barely meeting his ears on the thick patterned carpet. But the thing was, the shadow stayed there, and he knew that was not something that was normal. He stood up, carefully making his way to the door and saw the shadow still there peeking under the space between the door and the floor. He carefully went to unlock the door, and tried his best not make a sound. But alas, that was not to be. A soft click came from the door handle and the shadow moved aside. So Jack ripped open the door and ran out to see who it was that was at their door. He wasn't surprised in the least when the one man that had been watching them was the one he locked eyes with standing in the hall.

"Hold it there you!" Jack yelled out, sprinting at the much older man.

But he was not going to hold still and sprinted away towards the stairs at the end of the hall. There were two stairs, two flights going up opposing one in the middle that went down. This guy went up, and Jack followed him like a tick. It was now that he greatly appreciated his boots, because he was used to running in these whereas the creep he was chasing was still in fine dining attire and that wasn't very conducive to running and chasing. So Jack managed to close in on him and as they ascended two more flights Jack caught him when he slipped and stumbled and spun around to face him.

"Alright that's fa-"

SMACK!

A sudden lightning fast kick caught Jack right in the jaw and made him stumble and fall back down two steps before he got back to his feet. This time he got to his feet infuriated, and gave chase and went after him like a bat out of hell.

"Get back here you son of bitch!" Jack roared as he caught up to him again as he charged out of a door where the stairs ended, the Main Deck.

He came out at a tennis court, which the _Queen Mary_ was well known for, and charged out hoping to catch the man. But as he went out he caught suddenly around the neck by a small length of rope and was pulled back. Instantly he felt his air cut off, and desperately gasped for air as he tried pulling the rope off of his neck. But the rope held fast and Jack shoved himself backwards ramming his assailant against the net of the tennis court. Both of them fell back, landing on the hard green court. Jack rolled on top of the guy, and desperately fought back, throwing his elbow into the stomach of his attacker three times, getting pained grunts in response. The hold around his neck loosened and Jack twisted his head and managed to chomp down on the man's knuckle. A scream and the coppery taste of blood rewarded him as the hand let go and the stranglehold was broken. Jack rolled to the side, coughing and gasping as he tried scrambling to his feet. He got up in time to see a fist come plowing into his right cheek throwing him back as another punch landed on his left jaw. He stumbled backwards, caught unprepared as he pulled up his left arm and caught the next punch with his forearm and launched out with a blow to the man's nose with a right hook. He advanced seeing the effect it had and raised his fists as he prepared for a real fight.

Thunder claps snapped through the air as the man attacked Jack once again with a right jab that Jack caught and responded with but the man dodged it used his left hand to throw an uppercut into his stomach nearly lifting the young Texan of his feet and forced the air from his lungs. A right hook connected just above his eye as Jack was once again on the defensive. Rain began pelting around them as the rumbles of thunder began to become far more ominous and close as the massive ocean liner steamed into the storm. Jack ducked down as he dodged a left hook that would have connected with his nose and plowed himself into his attacker once again driving him back onto the floor and onto his back as Jack reeled back with a left jab that impacted the man's eye and landed another consecutive left hook that drew blood from the man's lips. But this only served to infuriate Jack's opponent and backhanded him across the face, cutting his cheek with the golden ring he wore. Jack was stunned for a moment and that gave the guy all the time he needed to kick him square in the chest and back onto the ground. He quickly took advantage of this, jumping at Jack as he lay on the ground. But Jack quickly kicked him right in the face, stopping him cold and breaking his nose. Both of them now scrambled to their feet, try to make it to be the first one up and attacking.

As Jack's attacker got to his feet, one hand holding his broken and bleeding nose Jack took the initiative and threw a perfect one-two punch with a right and left hook that sent the guy sprawling and tumbling down a flight of stairs to a lower outside deck. Jack jumped down at him trying to punch him again, but the guy threw him into the steel superstructure and Jack collapsed onto the now slick deck that both combatants were now dealing with. Jack tried getting up but was caught with a kick to the face that sent him sprawling onto the deck but Jack lashed out with his kick that swept his opponent's legs out from under him. Now Jack maneuvered again for a tackle and drove himself into the attacker and threw him down another flight of stairs as both of them rolled down and separated at the bottom with Jack's opponent nearest the white superstructure, and worse, a weapon.

Jack felt his heart drop as the man ripped a large firefighting axe off of its mount next to the fire hose and a box of life vests. He smiled sadistically as he advanced on Jack who backed up further towards the bow, trying not to get in range of the deadly weapon. Jack had no weapons of his own, and searched desperately for something to deal with the guy who now seemed determined to kill him. But before he did the guy took a first wild swing which Jack ducked under and closed in and landed another pair of punches that the guy staggered back from but yelled out as he charged forward again and threw his axe forward and down. Jack dodged the axe as it connected with the wooden deck and impaled itself and gave Jack another opportunity to strike back. He landed three successive punches that his opponent took right on the chin and ripped the axe out again as he now charged forward right at Jack and this time, it came down to life and death, Jack's back was against the railing, nothing was behind him but swirling black ocean that spelled death for whichever one of them fell in. But the constant fighting, and emotionally enraged attacker was not aware of this and charged right at Jack who ducked, and felt the guy's legs plow into his shoulders and lifted him up and over himself and out into the cold black storm. Jack never heard a splash, just the terrified scream of the man falling to the sea to be suddenly stopped as he hit the churning waves, never to be seen again.

Jack could barely bring himself to comprehend it, he'd just killed that guy, earlier that day he had seen him smoking a cigarette, eating dinner, and watching him, only to later face him in mortal combat and watch him disappear into the inky black of a storm tossed ocean. But then it dawned on him_, it was either him or me. And I am not about to let it be me._

He now realized what he had done and realized he needed to get back before someone saw him or saw what he'd done. So he rushed back up the stairs he just come falling and fighting down and back across the tennis court to the half open door and shut it closed behind him. Jack now felt the stings and tasted the metallic bitterness of the blood and cuts on his face and lip. He was pretty sure he looked pathetic, bleeding, soaking wet, and shaking from the chills and from the realization he'd killed a man. So he quickly made his way back to his room, back down the stairs, and back to his slightly open door.

He thought that perhaps another man had come in behind him to finish Mike and Elizabeth in their sleep, but then got a hold of himself and remembered he'd never closed the door. So he opened it and peaked in, seeing Mike still snoring and then went into the bathroom, dripping water as he walked in. He would need to get his clothes drying now before he caught cold and dripped water everywhere. So he quickly began unbuttoning his shirt then noticed a cut in his shirt and thin red line underneath slightly trailing watered down blood from a cut he'd never noticed. He started poking it, feeling how bad it was until he heard a soft tired voice speak up behind him.

"Jack? What are you doing up?" it was Elizabeth. _Shit! I can't let her see me like this! She'll freak out!_

"Elizabeth?!" he said, surprised and confused as to what to do and what to say, "I-I."

"Oh my God! What happened to you?!" she nearly screamed, running forward dressed in nothing but a thin white night gown, "Sit down right now, let me get a first aid kit."

Jack now saw the mirror out of the corner of his eye. His face was a mess. There was a cut on his right cheek, his bottom lip was split, and blood trailed from his left eyebrow and nose. There was no getting past it now, he'd have to tell her.

"You're soaking wet, take off your shirt before you catch a cold," she ordered as she sat him down on the edge of the bath tub and placed a tiny first aid kit on the sink she'd taken from the drawer in the bathroom, "Now what happened? Why are you looking like you went to a boxing match in the middle of a storm?"

"Because I kinda did, although the stakes were a bit higher," Jack responded, unbuttoning his red shirt and dropping the wet item in the bath tub. As he did so he felt the sting of a damp cloth on his cheek from Elizabeth pressing the disinfectant to the cut from the man's ring.

"What?" she asked, her eyes showing great concern.

"There was this guy watching us ever since we got on the ship, Mike and I noticed him looking at us really suspiciously. He was the one who did this to me."

"Oh my God! We need to tell the Captain!" Elizabeth declared angrily.

"Lizzy!" Jack snapped, grabbing her by the wrist before she made it out, "I don't think the Captain can give a dead man time in the brig."

"Where is he now? What did you do?" Elizabeth quietly asked, not exactly wanting to know, but needing to hear it from Jack.

"I caught him at our door, listening or picking the lock, I couldn't rightly tell, but when I called him out he took off runnin' and I took off after him. When I caught up to him he kicked me, which ain't what you do to someone you have a misunderstandin' with. And I haven't laid a finger on him alright? So I kept after that varmint and got up to one of them tennis courts where he jumped me and tried to strangle me."

Elizabeth gasped, holding her hands over her mouth, "He tried to kill you?"

"Twice, I managed to get him off of me that first time, we traded punches back and forth, a pretty clean fight, until that sumbitch tried cutting me up with an axe!"

"Jack! He tried murdering you!"

"Oh I couldn't tell Lizzy, I thought that we were cutting firewood!" Jack snapped, but then recovered, "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, well-well how'd you survive?"

"I threw him over the side, he's probably fish food right now."

"My God, I'm so sorry that happened to you," she said, feeling somehow responsible.

"It ain't yer fault Lizzy. I don't know what that fella's deal was or what it was he hoped to accomplish by offing me but what matters now is that I'm alright and you and Mike are safe. Now are you gonna sit there or am I going to have to patch myself up?" Jack said with a forced smile. He may have just gone through a fairly traumatic event but he still needed to put up some show of strength, if only for her benefit.

"Try the cute nurse routine on me and you'll have more than these cuts to patch up Cowboy," she giggled, rubbing the cut above his eye carefully with the cloth before reaching into the case to grab a couple small bandages and pressed them one by one to the individual cuts he was sporting on his cheek. When those were finished she looked down at the cut on his upper chest that Jack himself wasn't sure how it happened.

As she dabbed the cut with a fresh cloth to clean it Jack decided to try and loosen things up with some small talk, anything to get them to move on from this situation, "So, we still on for breakfast?"

Elizabeth looked up at his sideways grin and smiled warmly at the implied meaning, "Of course, it'll take more than someone murdering you to call off breakfast."

It was a joke of course, and both young college students got a decent laugh at it. They couldn't let what had happened stick with them, it would spell nothing but trouble and heart ache. It was in the past, and they had to move on. But of course they would report it, after all, Jack had nearly been strangled and cut to pieces and a man was dead. Something would need to be done to inform any next of kin about the death of their family member, if the guy had family.

As the two kids talked and quietly patched up the few remaining cuts a shadow passed by their door, paused for a moment and left. Neither knew that it had been there, and never would.

* * *

**Bedford Connecticut**

* * *

The grades had been mailed, the year was effectively over, and Indiana Jones was for once enjoying some decent rest and relaxation. There were none of Marcus's treasure hunts to embark upon, the Nazis weren't up to anything that need concern him, and he didn't have any awkward relationships to keep up with. So he simply sat at home on his porch with a glass of lemonade, reading a good book on the Great War.

He'd fought for more than three years in that war, his duties taking him from Flanders, Verdun, the Somme, Africa, the Middle East, and even into the skies with the Lafayette Escadrille. He'd risen to the rank of Captain in the Belgian Army fighting alongside his best friend, Remy Baudouin. He'd gone from the trenches, to runner, back to the trenches, to Africa, and finally to French Intelligence where he even fought with the French Foreign Legion tracking stolen arms being sold to local rebels. During that time he'd seen many things, seen many people die some by his own hand. But the most haunting was in Transylvania, where he'd come across the object of nightmares and horror stories the world over, Vlad the Impaler, Dracula. He'd seen things there that would end up becoming a sign of things to come for his career as an archaeologist/tomb robber. However the thing was, he'd done all of that before the age of twenty years old. But back to the book, he simply enjoyed breaking the book down, and seeing whether its author was someone who had been there, done that, and experienced the horrors of war, or was just some romantic who'd seen the many clips of the war at the theaters and read real memoirs of the war by real soldiers. Thankfully the book he now read was written by one of the few who had seen those horrors for themselves. So he could appreciate the writing and the stories that he himself was able to connect with.

However, not even Indiana Jones could stay reading for long, whether it was a problem of his own discovery, or one of the government's or friend's his work was never done. He looked up from his book to see a black brand new 1937 Ford with three men inside wearing black and gray suits. The car parked in front of his house and Indiana knew that there was more than likely his time relaxing was done for a while.

"Dr. Jones?" the lead man said after walking up to his porch.

"Yes?" Indiana said, noting the normal American accent.

"Special Agent Walter Johnson, FBI."

"What does the FBI want now?" Indiana groaned.

"Perhaps we should have this conversation inside Doctor," the man said, motioning towards the door.

"Fine," Indiana replied.

He got up after tucking the book underneath his arm and collecting his glass of lemonade and walked in. He was surprised to see Agent Johnson signal his men to wait outside the door. So Indiana took a seat on a couch with a coffee table between them and saw the man pull a folder from his briefcase that had been handed to him earlier.

"Dr. Jones have you known that we've been keeping tabs on you?" Agent Johnson asked casually.

"Yes, I have, you've only been doing it for the past five years."

"Well we're not the only ones. Three weeks ago we broke up a ring of Italian Intelligence informants and spies in Manhattan. Among their records we confiscated was a great deal of information about you and the people tasked with watching you," he passed over a file with well over a dozen papers filled with dialogue that Indiana could tell were direct copies of what he'd said in some of lectures and in his conversations he'd had in his office with Marcus Brody.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Three days ago you spoke with one of your students. Elizabeth Downey, daughter of Jonathan Downey of Newport Steel Industries. She told you of an archaeological expedition she, her brother, and a friend were going on. Apparently they were looking for something called the Shield of Gallia."

"Among other things, what does Italian Intelligence keeping tabs on me have to with them?" Indiana asked, sensing something wrong, very wrong.

"For about a month we've been hearing a lot of chatter from Italian Intelligence talking about an objective they call 'Green Ruby' and according to what research shows about the Shield of Gallia it is supposedly a giant green ruby with a great deal of unnatural power. And just yesterday an Italian Agent boarded a ship bound for London, the _Queen Mary_. Also aboard that ship were Miss Downey, her brother, and their friend. Now Doctor Jones, or should I call you Captain Defense, you and I both don't believe in coincidences in this business."

"What are you saying?"

Agent Johnson took a deep breath before saying what he came to say, "The FBI believes that Elizabeth Downey, Michael Downey, and Jackson Williams are in mortal danger. We want you to bring them to the American Embassy where they'll be safe and then find the Shield of Gallia before Italian Intelligence or worse, the Germans."

"I thought that the Italians were keeping tabs on me? Sending me might not be the best choice."

"It's them keeping tabs on you we're counting on, we want to clean up the remaining Italian cells here on the East Coast, and you heading to Europe will flush them out. And from what we've seen Miss Downey trusts you, and you've also got the skillset to find the Shield, so we figured we'd kill two birds with one stone."

"That isn't the best way of phrasing a mission to save lives."

"True. Still, we need you Doctor, more importantly, they need you."

"Alright when do I leave?" Indiana said, he didn't need much convincing to go and save the lives of his students.

"We have a gotten a ship to take you, it's the fastest way to Britain under such short circumstances. You may not beat them but you should be able to catch them before anything happens," Agent Johnson said as he passed over a ship boarding pass and its accompanying ticket.

"Alright, guess I'd better get going."

"Very well Doctor Jones, good luck," Agent Johnson said, getting up and shaking his hand, "You're gonna need it."

The man left after snapping his suit case shut and left Indiana to look contemplate exactly what he now had to do. It was a new thing for him, his adventures had met some interesting people before, from pirates, to Nazis, to ancient cults, but never had any of his own students been involved. But he knew their lives were in danger, and he had a duty to help them.

So getting up he went into his office and grabbed a bag for the trip, pulled on the leather jacket he wore for this kind of adventure and then snatched a few clothes into the bag and then pulled out his Smith and Wesson .455 Bapty Revolver and two boxes of bullets. After stuffing a couple stacks of bills into the bag for spending money he turned to the final item in his inventory, his fedora, the symbol of who he was. He slipped the hat on and turned to leave, intent of getting those kids home safe and then finding the Shield of Gallia.

* * *

**RMS **_**Queen Mary**_

* * *

The Grand Salon was properly named, the three story first class dining room was a sight to behold, marble, plush carpets, finely crafted wood, and smooth classic music was what made this a very good place to be. Especially after the events of the previous night's drama.

Of course Jack and Elizabeth had reported the incident, only to have brushed aside as a common thief who'd had too much to drink and got carried away, and thus lost his life at sea. Their explanation wasn't unfounded, there were other similar incidents of thievery but the attempted murder was a new wrinkle that had concerned the ship's head of security who'd gone so far as to offer free room service for the remainder of the voyage. This had been appreciated, especially since Michael had woken up and instantly taken up residence hunched over the toilet with a nasty hangover. So after reporting Jack's encounter and subsequent fight he and Elizabeth made their way to the Grand Salon for breakfast.

"So what do you think was with that fella? The one I fought?" Jack asked as the two of them were seated near the window with a decent view of the outside that was still in a slight downpour.

"Can we stop talking about him please? The First Mate was probably right, he must have been looking to steal from us and you found him out and being slightly drunk the guy got carried away and you had no choice but to defend yourself," Elizabeth responded as she picked up her menu.

"I know, it just-it doesn't add up. He sure didn't fight like a drunkard, and I've fought my fair share of drunks."

"Jack please, can we please find something else to talk about?" Elizabeth groaned, "Like the treasure. I've been going over my notes and I wanted your input on where it might be."

"Alright Lizzy, shoot," Jack responded, placing his own menu down.

Elizabeth's face lit up as she smiled at being able to talk about something she truly liked. It was no secret that her favorite subject in life was archaeology, and she'd shown true gifts of discerning facts from fiction, and pulling facts from observations that no one else seemed to be able to pick out. So she reached into her purse and pulled out her worn leather notebook that was filled with notes, maps, translations, drawings, and anything else that she'd thought pertained to their trip. She quickly pulled out a map that was folded up to several times and spread it out on the table for him to see.

"Okay, see here?" she pointed at a spot in southeastern France, "That was Alesia, the place where Julius Caesar effectively beat the Gauls and took the Shield of Gallia. I figure that after he conquered all the barbarians he'd go back the way he came along his lines of supply, which means that he would avoid the Alps, and go along the coast in friendly territory where there are roads and towns and people who support him. Because by that time he had effectively chosen to take power, so he was recruiting new troops to supplement his legions," she said pointing along a route she'd highlighted in red and green to symbolize routes taken and the time they were taken.

"And you think that he hid the treasure somewhere in these southern mountains?"

"No," she said definitively, holding up her hand, "this area was still fairly remote and the barbarians living there still knew the mountains better than he and his own Romans knew them. To put it in perspective answer me this. Where do people hide their life savings? Someone else's property? Or would you hide it in your back yard?"

"So you're saying he didn't hide it here in the Alps?" Jack asked, "So where do you think he hid it? In a piggy bank?"

"You're not listening," she snapped, lightly flicking him on the head, "He hid the treasure where he knew it would be safe where the people there were loyal to him where he could retreat to a solid base of power. Here, in Northern Italy near Genoa and Milan. There the treasure was in Roman territory, out of the reach of the Gauls and rogue barbarians. But still out of reach of the Senate and their allies in Southern and Middle Italy. It has to be there, and the thing is, only one archaeologist has ever looked there, and he was killed in an avalanche in the middle of winter so the trip was canceled. Don't you get it? It's a much smaller area to search that has never been searched, and all we have to do is get there find the treasure and boom," she said, banging her fist on the table causing a chain reaction of the silverware and china to shake and tinkle loudly, getting the odd looks of most of the other patrons sitting and conversing nearby.

"I see you do have this figured Lizzy," Jack said, seeing the smile still on her face as she looked at her handiwork with a great deal of self-satisfaction.

"Sir madam, are we ready to order?" a waiter calmly asked as she folded up the map again and put it back into her notebook.

"Oh," Elizabeth said, grabbing her menu, "I'll take…the seafood omelet with some orange juice please."

"Excellent choice madam," the waiter said, then turned to Jack, "And for the gentleman? Would it be eggs and fritters?"

"You trying to start somethin' swabby?" Jack growled, not taking to the jab at his Western appearance and accent lightly.

"Simply making an observation sir," the waiter responded with the classic snobby air that seemed to permeate the entire room.

"Best watch yer mouth partner," Jack hissed, reaching into the back of his pants and calmly set his revolver, a Colt Peacemaker 1910 Bisley Model, on the table, making sure the bullets in the rotating chamber were clearly visible, "Or yer likely to get into some trouble. I'll have what she's having, but with coffee, black. Make sure you write that down."

"Of-of course sir," the waiter responded shakily, his hand scrambling to write down the order as he tried not to stare at the Colt revolver sitting menacingly on the table.

As he walked away quickly Jack placed the weapon back where he'd had it, and Elizabeth about went off on him.

"Jack! What the Hell?! Are you trying to get us arrested?!" she hissed, "I told you not to bring that gun!"

"After last night I'm glad I brought it. Better safe than sorry."

"Better smart than stupid I'd say," Elizabeth responded testily.

"It's not just for my protection Lizzy," he responded, looking her seriously with an eye that told her what he meant.

"I'm guessing Mike brought that new gun of his too?" she responded.

"Yeah he did, which reminds me, best not tell him you and I went out to breakfast. I don't reckon he'd take too kindly to us going on a breakfast date without him knowing."

Elizabeth's cheeks instantly flared to a light pink at the mention that this was basically a date, "Wh-when did this become a date?!"

"When you asked me to take you to breakfast."

"This-this," she stammered, not really sure what to say, as he was right, she had asked him to take her breakfast.

"This is me takin' you from our room to eat breakfast. Sounds like a date to me."

She continued to blush as she watched him stifle laughter at how much she was getting flustered over it all. It was enough to make her wish that she had brought her hung over brother with them, even with the perks that came with it. But she did feel comfortable around Jack, like she were just speaking with an old friend, that nothing seemed wrong with being there alone with him.

"Fine, you can call it a date, but don't tell Mike."

**There we are, that was quick wouldn't you say? And is this romance in the air? *Cue Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"* I have a few tricks up my sleeve folks, like that action scene, that little hint of romantic possibility, and the promise of Indiana Jones being on his way to foil some unknown evil plot? I told you I've got plans for this story. Thanks for reading and if you wouldn't mind I'd like some feedback so just write a quick review and let me know your thoughts.**

**Next Chapter Preview: Welcome to Europe kids, say hello to the sights, people, and dangers it comes with. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Southampton, England

May 13, 1937

The trip across the Atlantic had been an interesting one to say the least for the three young adventurers. After the first night of partying and subsequent attack/attempted murder of Jack things had been teetering between absolute fear and paranoia. But the feeling only lasted a day, as the jovial spirit and generally pleasant surroundings of the luxurious ocean liner let them relax their guard. The ship had docked early in the morning, so there were very few people up and about to see the _Queen Mary_ come into port. However, at the terminal were the normal crowd of dockworkers to help tie the vessel's mooring lines down, as well as a few chauffeurs who were there to pick up someone and take them to a hotel, estate, or home.

Elizabeth had been the first one of the three to get up and get ready to disembark. She had been looking forward to making it to Europe for a long time, and she didn't want to miss anything. Michael and Jack were still asleep as they pulled into port which allowed Elizabeth some freedom to roam and enjoy the early morning sun rise as it crested over from the east. The sunsets were always nice, anywhere she saw them, and here in Britain was no different as she stood leaning on the railing of the _Queen Mary_. As she waited she heard the footsteps of someone come up behind her and walk up to the railing to her left. She turned slightly to see a man in a black leather jacket with short black hair holding a cigarette in hand as he fumbled around with a lighter to get a smoke in. His face was long and worn, and his expression was very stern with slight bags under his eyes from a lack of sleep.

"I hope you do not mind Senora," the man said, his voice deep with an Italian accent, "I usually come out on deck to have a smoke before carrying on with the day."

"Oh that's quite alright," Elizabeth said, looking at him to still see only his silhouette, "I understand."

"Gracia," the guy responded as the flickering yellow light of the lighter finally came to life and he was able to get his pungent smelling cigarette lit and took a long first drag to get it started, "These English sunsets are amazing no? You look as if you have seen them before."

"Yes, they sure are. It's been six years since I have been to Britain, the last time I was with my father on one of his business trips," Elizabeth responded.

"Ah, you must be the daughter of the American businessman Henry Downey, Elizabeth isn't it?" the man asked.

"Umm…yes?" Elizabeth responded, her response coming out more as a question than an answer.

"I had heard from some of the other passengers over dinner say that you were on a quest to discover the Treasure of the First Caesar," the man responded.

"And?" Elizabeth asked, beginning to sidestep slightly.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Dr. Luigi Compertino, Venice Museum of Antiquities," he said turning and holding out his hand. She took it and was surprised when he leaned down and planted a gentle kiss onto it, "I too have been looking for the Treasure of the First Caesar for a long time. But alas, the museum has refused to fund any of my expeditions. They call the treasure a myth, a fairy tale!"

"I know how that feels," Elizabeth responded.

"Forgive me if I come across as too up front but I have been doing research into this subject for a very long time, and I have many friends in Italia, so perhaps I may be of some assistance?"

"Well I'd like to say yes but-," Elizabeth hesitated, not exactly sure what to say. On the one hand, he seemed like he was a decent enough man, on the other, she just met him and was not sure at all who he really was or what his intentions really were, "I don't know, that's really something I'd have to talk to the others about. We really should make that kind of decision together."

"Of course, I understand. Something like a new member of your team is a big decision, especially one that is as close as brother sister and their best friend. It is quite alright senora."

"Listen, I should probably return to my cabin, we're expected at a friend of my father's. I need to get Jack and my brother up so we can get going as quickly as possible," Elizabeth said as she turned to go inside, "It was nice meeting you."

"Wait," he said, "In case you want to find me, you can reach me at the School of Antiquities in Genoa. I will be there giving lectures for a week on the impact of the Latin language upon modern times."

"Oh, thank you," she responded hurriedly, her subconscious thoughts running rampant with really troubling thoughts.

As Dr. Compertino bid her farewell she slipped back into the ship and quickly made her way back to her room. She wasn't quite sure why, but something seemed off about him, and she wanted nothing to do with him. As she walked away towards her room she heard that same man speaking directly behind her. But he wasn't speaking English, in fact she wasn't sure what language he was speaking. But she let her curiosity get the better of her anyway, and she waited at the corner, well out of sight of the Dr. Compertino and whoever it was he speaking to.

"Allora?" the stranger spoke quietly, but not quietly enough.

"Lei non andare per esso," came the response from Compertino.

"Pensate che era sospetto?" the second man asked with a definite hint of curiosity in his tone.

"No, anche con l'attacco alla sua amica dubito sospetta nulla," Compertino responded with confidence in his voice.

"Dovremmo passare a misure più dirette?" the other man asked with that same curiosity evident.

"Ma sei matto? Se uccidiamo o rapire quei bambini senza il permesso sede avremmo girato e capro espiatorio di tenere gli americani fuori il nostro profumo. Abbiamo già perso un agente a questa follia, ho intenzione di essere il prossimo," Compertino snapped angrily, making Elizabeth think for a moment that they'd seen her.

"Bene, bene ho capito," the other guy responded, definitely trying to calm down Compertino, as whatever he'd just said obviously angered him.

"Tuttavia, abbiamo bisogno di guardarli. Tenete d'occhio su di loro, soprattutto la ragazza," Compertino could be heard thoughtfully saying.

"Sì signore."

Elizabeth sat there calmly, thinking to herself where she'd heard that word 'signore' before. _If only Mike were here! He'd tell me what they were saying as soon as they said it! _Elizabeth thought to herself as she remembered her brother's talent for languages. But then she heard the footsteps of them walking towards the T in the hall and figured out that she needed to get out of her little snooping spot before they saw her and figured out she'd been eavesdropping on them, even if she had no clue as to what she'd heard. She made a mental note to ask Mike about it once they were off the ship and away from those guys. However, she'd first need to get the boys up so they could get off of the ship.

So she ducked back around the corner down the hall and quickly made her way back to her room so that she could get Mike and Jack up and ready to depart the ship and move on. When she'd told Dr. Compertino that she was expected she hadn't lied. An old acquaintance of her father's by the name of Sir Basil Heart was to let them stay at his home in Dover for a day or two and catch up and get everything settled for the final trip to Italy. Once she closed the door she wasn't surprised to see that both boys were in their beds soundly asleep. She couldn't help but chuckle at how she might be able to get them to wake up and get a good laugh in at their expense.

So she simply remembered what she would do as a little girl whenever she wanted her brother to wake up and he just wouldn't: Scream at the top of her lungs. It was a tried and true tactic that had never failed her, not even once. However it had some other far reaching effects. Others tended to be quite angry if they were within earshot of her rather loud attempt to wake someone up. However, seeing Mike freak out going all the way up to high school was always worth it, and it wasn't like anyone on this ship would hunt her down for it right?

"Boys?" she called out at a normal voice after turning on the light. However, as expected she got no response, "Boys?" she tried again walking in between the two beds after seeing Jack stir but resettle with his head underneath the pillow. Finally she decided it was time to let rip, "WAKE UP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Jesus!" Jack yelled back, jumping almost up out of bed and falling off at her feet.

"Good you're up," Elizabeth giggled, "Come on, we have a full day ahead of us."

"Lizzy! What the hell?!" Mike snapped back, sitting up on his elbows, "I thought we were past that child's play?!"

"You are but I'm not," she responded with a hearty laugh, "Oh you should have seen your faces! I wish I had a camera," she mocked as she pretended to wipe a tear of joy from her cheek.

"It's five thirty!" Jack groaned as he sat up and put his feet on the floor.

"We got in a little late, that storm must have slowed us down," Mike grumbled as he made his way to the bathroom first.

"Get dressed and pack your things. I want to leave before everyone else gets up and beat the crowd," Elizabeth called out as she made her way into her own separate bedroom to make sure she too was packed and ready to go and also to give the boys their own privacy to get dressed without the eyes of a lady there watching them, "And don't think about falling asleep again. I'll just scream louder next time."

"The only time I'd want to hear you scream is in joy when we find the treasure, even then tone it down, you might bury us in an avalanche," Jack grumbled as he began walking over to get his two bags packed and ready with a clean set of clothes set out.

"I'll try to remember that," Elizabeth chuckled lightheartedly as she checked to be sure her note book was where she left it and not surprisingly it was right where she'd left it, under one of her pillows. She knew how important to her trip her notebook truly was and what it would mean to lose it. She had cleared out the closet that she'd used to hang up her dresses that she had worn to dinner, lunch, and to a couple parties that she and her little group had been invited to.

Of course every party was the same, she'd be surrounded by creepy older men who wanted to make a good impression on her to pass on to her wealthy businessman father or they and the younger men would try to make a better impression for another less savory reason. Meanwhile her brother would be trying to schmooze the younger ladies of whatever nationality he spoke the language of or he'd be playing cards and winning some money for himself while talking about the latest technologies. Then Jack would either be swamped with Europeans asking about his adventures as a Cowboy in the Old West and if he'd fought Indians, bandits, or rustlers, or he'd be swamped with whatever girls had evaded Michael and were asking for demonstrations of his Cowboying skills. Whenever that happened Elizabeth would begin to get quite annoyed at the posh little princesses flirting with Jack who just seemed oblivious to what they were _really _wanting. Thankfully though, Jack was never taken in by their refined charms, Elizabeth didn't pull said girls' hair out, and Mike had learned his lesson and had never again gotten himself into a drinking contest that ended with him being carried back to the cabin.

Elizabeth couldn't help smirking quietly to herself as she remembered that second day of the cruise, and then stopped smirking as she remembered the attack on Jack and him consequently killing the man responsible. She had noticed the scratches on his face every day as they quickly healed over and couldn't help herself to think of what might had happened if Jack had been just a little less lucky. And every time she did she shuddered at the thought.

_Oh snap out of it, he's fine, you're fine, Mike's fine, we're alright. That was just a one in a million incident that just so happened to befall us_, she scolded herself. She hated fretting, her father had always fretted over her, thinking in the old fashioned way of seeing girls and women in general as something to protect. That had quickly gotten old for her and pretty much set her on the path to becoming a strong independent young woman. She thought pleasantly to herself as she realized that was kind of what she now was, going out, leading her brother and Jack on a great journey to find an ancient treasure,_ that sure isn't what a traditional woman does now is it?_

With that pleasant thought ringing proudly through her head she quickly finished checking her pre packed bags to be sure everything was in order and ready for their departure, all she really needed was for the boys to get ready. She now looked over at the clock seeing the hour and minute hands lined up perfectly straight telling her it was by now six o'clock and that their opportunity for beating the crowd was about to pass.

"Boys! Come on let's go! You ready yet?" she asked after knocking on the door.

Mike's voice answered her quickly, "Yeah almost, just grabbing my shoes."

She opened the door to see Mike tying his shoes and Jack putting his gun belt, complete with holster, around his waist. She had repeatedly told him not to wear his gun in public, but he was not easily persuaded. But she let it pass, they were going to be leaving the ship anyway, and that wouldn't be much of an issue very soon, people wore guns in the streets of Britain all the time, although not deliberately out in the open for all to see like Jack did.

"I guess we're good to go?" Elizabeth asked as she sat down with the two boys finishing getting packed up and dressed.

"Yep," Jack responded, tossing his two bags onto the bed, "Just waiting on the steward to help with your bags."

"Hey I didn't pack very much!" Elizabeth responded.

"You have more bags than the two of us combined!" Mike joked as he finished up getting ready.

"I'm a girl, and girls have needs," Elizabeth responded with an over exaggerated huff.

"Sure they do, that's why us guys have to keep an eye on you girls," Mike joked back, prodding her where he knew she'd feel it.

"I will not be a little damsel in distress Mike, I can handle myself," she said with a confident statement.

"Yeah, that's why ye need a steward to carry yer bags," Jack chuckled, getting Elizabeth to whirl around at him, taken completely off guard by that observation that did tend to put a hole in her argument.

At that moment there was a knock on the door that was about as convenient as timing gets. Mike got up and went to check through the peep-hole and opened the door. A single young steward wearing a white dress shirt and black pants was standing with a small cart for taking their bags off the ship.

"Are we ready to depart?" the young man asked as he stood there.

"Sure thing, here I'll help with her bags," Mike said, moving inside to grab Elizabeth's bags so that the guy didn't have to grab them all on his own.

"And for you gentlemen? Would you require assistance?" the steward asked, noticing the bags that they too had.

"Nah, I'm fine partner, I carry my own bags," Jack said, glancing at Elizabeth with a knowing smile that she returned with an indignant scowl.

Elizabeth didn't like it when people made fun of her, but she knew that it was all in good fun, at least here it was. Jack and Mike were only pushing her buttons, and she just couldn't help but continue to be prodded along, even if she knew their game. _Guess that comes with my pride_, she thought to herself as the steward came out holding four bags under his arms with Mike holding two more in both hands. Jack pulled his hat on and checked his gun belt to be sure that his revolver wouldn't fall down when he walked.

Once the bags, including Mike's, were safely on the dolly the group quickly took off towards the exit that had by now been opened as the ship was tied down to its new birthing. The halls were empty, only the occasional steward with a breakfast tray or dolly walked about the halls until they were down to the final destination. Here was where a few early risers were already up and exiting the ship, shaking hands with the assembled bridge crew of the RMS Queen Mary, i.e. the Captain, First Mate, Chief Engineer, and even the ship's owner was aboard, bidding people farewell and were being thanked themselves for a smooth ride. The Captain saw the three of them and walked over, well aware himself of who they were and what their voyage had been like.

"Ah, Miss Downey, I see you're up bright and early to disembark," the older man observed.

"Yes, well we wanted to get an early start on the day. Thank you for bringing us across the pond Captain," she replied, holding out her hand, which was taken in two hands.

"Thank you for gracing us with your presence during the voyage. I do hope you'll consider chartering with us upon your successful return to the United States," he kindly replied, "And Mister Downey, I do thank you for your wonderful company at the gambling table and for that good sport of drinking contest. It has been a long time since I have met a worthy foe. I do hope we may continue our sport on your return trip."

"I'll get you at chess on the way back Captain, thanks for the smooth sailing," Mike responded as he shook the man's hand gracefully.

"And Mister Williams," the Captain finally came to Jack, whom he knew the most about due to that incident on the first night, "I would like to once more offer an apology from myself and the whole of White Star Lines for that dreadful encounter of yours with that ruffian. I do hope that the rest of the voyage was quite to your satisfaction? If it wasn't I would very much like the opportunity to redeem this ship with a proper return journey."

"It was fine Cap'n, you fellas got some good cooks, reckon the last time I ate this good was at Lizzy's place on her birthday," Jack responded courteously, getting a grateful smile from the Captain.

"I do appreciate that sir, it is our mandate, and my personal goal, that our passengers receive the finest care and service that we can give. Well, bon voyage gentlemen, milady, I do hope you will come back to see us soon."

"Thank you Captain," Elizabeth responded as she turned and lead the way of the ship to the docks where several cars were waiting with suited chauffeurs holding up signs with names on them letting people know who they were there to receive.

Elizabeth knew that her father's friend, Sir Basil Heart, had been told that she was coming and had sent someone to pick up the trio. So, as expected, a single older man standing in front of a maroon 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom II Sedanca Cabriolet with an older 1933 Ford BB truck behind it. The truck was for carrying their bags and the Rolls Royce was for driving they themselves all the way to Dover.

So when Mike saw that Rolls Royce he instantly began drooling over the impressive machine.

"Oh, my, God. That's a Phantom II, we're driving to Dover in a Phantom II," he whispered.

"So what? I'd prefer a good mustang any day," Jack responded as they walked towards the car and driver.

"Cowboy, I have a lot to teach you my friend," Mike replied as he shook his head and walked towards the waiting driver.

"Oh I can't wait," Jack responded sarcastically as he followed them.

"Miss Downey?" the driver asked.

"Yes?" she responded.

"Excellent, Sir Basil Heart sent me to pick you all up and bring you to his estate in Dover. My compatriot here will take your bags, and we can get under way."

As the three of them brought their bags over to the truck to have them loaded they were unaware of the two men up above them on the main deck watching them get into the Rolls Royce. They each wrote down the license plate number of the car and once it was out of sight they returned indoors to get ready to go. However a solid black Bentley pulled away from the crowd of other cars and fell in line behind the two departing vehicles headed towards Dover. The driver kept a fair distance away from the two cars, and even went so far as to appear normal by making a turn to move parallel to the two cars instead of directly following them. The two men inside photographed the cars from behind, and from the sides, getting a good picture of not only the cars but of their occupants. And the three students had no clue as to what was happening.

* * *

**Dover, England, Two Hours Later**

* * *

The trip was pleasant enough, the traffic was practically nonexistent, and every cylinder of the Phantom II was turned loose on the open county roads leading to the Heart Estate that rested next to the English Channel. Mike had chosen to ignore the fact that his sister and Jack were sitting next to one another and had insisted on sitting up front where he could feel the cool morning air and see the trip for himself.

He'd even gone so far as to ask to drive the amazing machine, but was politely turned down with the promise he'd be able to drive them to the ferry when they moved on to the mainland. So that left him to looking out at the passing scenery as they drove at quite a clip towards their first stop in Europe. He had been looking forward to this trip for such a long time now that he couldn't contain himself. He was what people called a dreamer, he had an almost insatiable appetite for anything new, modern, sophisticated, and revolutionary. He had gone with his father once to the 1930 World's Fair in Antwerp, where he'd gotten lost among great inventions, science, and all the people who made them. It was then that he developed a knack for languages, learning and speaking such staples as French, Italian, German, and now he was trying to learn to speak Greek and Russian.

His favorite passion among those items he'd seen in Antwerp had been the weapons, the planes, and most importantly, the cars. He was an accomplished driver at the age of thirteen, and had more than once "borrowed" his father's Cadillac and driven around the New York countryside, flooring the gas pedal and never once crashing his dad's prized Caddy. His obsession had turned to expertise now that he was a twenty year old sophomore in college, and he had tried many times to share his passion of modern inventions with his buddy Jack, who was still in the nineteenth century for all intents and purposes.

Another part of his college life had been his rather wild social life and love life. He'd been courting girls since the age of thirteen when he'd had his first kiss at the World's Fair from a girl his own age who he had no idea even understood a word he had said (That was also part of the reason for learning several languages). His sister had made fun of him constantly for never being able to keep a girlfriend for more than a few weeks until he or she broke it off. But she wasn't one to talk, Mike had been rather perplexed at how she seemed more interested in rocks, bones, and ruins than she did in finding a boyfriend. She blamed him of course for intimidating the boys she had liked, and that wasn't untrue. He had been extremely protective of Elizabeth of course, keeping the more unsavory characters away from your little sister was every older brother's job. Although the time had passed since she wasn't able to know any better such as her early years after puberty. Now she knew better about who to trust with her affection she'd begun taking offense to his protective instincts. This brotherly instinct was partly why Jack had been hesitant to ask her out. But Mike himself had no clue that his best friend had wanted to date his sister ever since he had first met her when the two of them helped her move into her dorm and they'd locked eyes for the first time. If he had known that then he wouldn't have let them sit in the back together without a second thought.

As they finally came within sight of the three story building that gleamed in the eight o'clock sun rise Mike now looked into the rear-view mirror and saw a black Bentley stopped at the rise of the hill behind them. However, as he looked at the lone Bentley it just turned right around and drove back over the hill. He just shrugged that off, thinking that it was simply someone who got lost and had to turn around. But it was a very nice car though, he thought as the Rolls-Royce pulled into the hedge and tree-lined driveway to pull up to the gates where the gates opened from the inside by a butler seeing them pull up. The front façade of the mansion was very luxurious, and was sight to behold. Flowers of many types grew in abundance in and around the beds near sculptured bushes great oak and yeo trees. The pink bricks of the house stood in contrast to the several white pillars standing to hold up the overhanging roof inlayed with classic British icons like lion's face and angels along the top. Many windows looked out over their lush surroundings that stood next to the great white cliffs of Dover. There was a balcony directly over the porch where Mike was clearly able to see an older man sitting and reading a newspaper as he sat looking over his prime estate. As soon as the car pulled into the circular driveway however, he looked down at the Phantom II and put his magazine down and stood up.

"Ah, you're here," he called down, "Geoffrey, be a good chap and show them in, I'll be right down."

"Yes sir," the driver responded as he parked the car near the steps, "I'll see that your bags are brought in. Meanwhile follow me, and do excuse the mess, we're hosting a ball tonight and we have a great deal to square away."

"Oh great, more parties," Jack could be heard groaning.

"It's only for the night Jack," Elizabeth giggled as she got out and followed the driver inside.

"That's what you said about the ones on that ship!" Jack responded again.

"Sometimes Jack, you've just gotta have some class," Mike responded as they walked in through the large oak double doors, "Besides, where else are you going to get free food and free booze while waltzing with some beautiful young ladies?"

"Again with you and girls Mike," Elizabeth groaned as they went in and saw a familiar setting. A great entry hall with a great crystal chandelier up above them with several old suits of knight's armor against the walls with a grand staircase directly in front of them. It was lit by electric light bulbs, and practically glistened with all the classic examples of European finery.

"Elizabeth! Michael!" a woman called out from the side in a dining room.

"Miss Heart, it's good to see you again," Elizabeth said as she walked over and was given a hug by a slightly older woman wearing a light blue dress.

"Oh my dear it has been such a long time, look at how much you've grown. And Michael, what a handsome young gentleman you have grown into," she said giving Michael his own friendly hug, "Oh and who is this?" she said, slightly taken back by the oddly dressed and armed Jack standing behind the two siblings.

"Jackson Williams, pleasure ma'am," the Texas boy greeted taking off his hat.

"Oh my, your father never told us that your friend was so…rustic," the British woman said as she examined Jack through a critical eye.

"He's got his drawbacks, but that Western upbringing of his has trained one of the most trustworthy and dependable friends I have ever had," Mike responded, "Just don't ask him to dance or speak fancy and he'll be fine."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance Mister Williams," Miss Heart said, shaking his hand cordially after accepting Mike's appraisal, "Basil should be coming down to properly welcome you. He just a call from London and should be here in due time."

"And here I am now," the man in question called out, walking out of an adjacent study straightening out a simple vest and green long sleeve shirt, "Terribly sorry about that, but alas, the duties of office. Elizabeth Michael, when your father asked me to take you in I was delighted to do so. It has been much too long."

"I'd thought you had retired from service?" Michael asked.

"The Royal Navy has reactivated my commission, the political situation in Europe is beginning to become somewhat problematic. The Germans have just launched a new class of armored cruisers faster than a battleship and more powerful than any cruiser and have unveiled the existence of their new air arm, the Luftwaffe. Add the Italians near to launching the finest battleships in the Mediterranean and expanding into Africa with a vengeance and we have ourselves quite a pickle."

"Looks like we chose a bad time to come to Europe," Elizabeth said grimly.

"Glad I brought my Colt now?" Jack chuckled as he patted his trusty revolver.

"Oh on the surface things may seem downright troubling but there is nothing to fear I can assure you. As long as you stay nice and clear of Germany and those dreadful rallies you will have no trouble. But why must we talk politics, allow me to show you to where you'll be able to stay while you're staying here."

"So Basil what are you doing now that you've been reactivated? You going to sea?" Mike asked as they ascended the stairs.

"No unfortunately, to the Royal Navy I have gone past my seafaring days. A pity really, you accumulate all of that knowledge, wisdom, and experience only to be told no one wants it."

"Well with the advent of new technology they may feel that you're not really up to speed."

"Oh you've kept with the advances in naval technology Michael?" he asked as he lead them down the hall.

"Well yeah kinda. I think that with the advent of the aircraft carrier the days of the battleship are over," Mike said definitively, getting the stunned face of their host in return.

"What? Aircraft carriers superseding the Battleships? How on earth do you figure that?"

"Well when Billy Mitchell sank those old German battleships after the First World War he proved that an aircraft can sink a Battleship and be relatively impervious. And since then aircraft have grown exponentially in their capabilities, I mean, you look at the Spanish Civil War going on right now. The Germans have some planes that make the ones Mitchell used look like kites. Then you look at the Battleships which really haven't changed and the evidence is clear that the day of the aircraft carrier have arrived."

"Well when an Aircraft Carrier sinks a Battleship in single combat I shall believe it. Although I don't think those little cannons that even your Lexington class sports can fend off even the oldest of pre-Dreadnaughts."

"Basil that's the thing," Michael continued, dragging on the argument, "An Aircraft Carrier's primary weapon is not its guns, it's its aircraft, they can fly out well out of range of even the largest battleship guns drop their bombs and torpedoes and fly away without their ship even catching sight of smoke on the horizon."

As the two of them continued debating like Michael always seemed to do wherever he went a door opened directly in front of them, and a young woman walked out. She was a hardly an inch taller than Elizabeth with the same figure but with chocolate brown eyes and brunette hair tied up in the latest of European fashion. She had on a white dress that sparkled with inlayed jeweled beads and that hugged the contours of her body. And when Michael caught sight of her all memory of the argument he'd been having with Sir Basil were forgotten.

"Ah Nicole," Basil said, "Allow me to introduce Elizabeth Downey, Michael Downey, and Jackson Williams of the United States. This is Nicole DuLin, daughter of Jean DuLin of the French Consulate."

"Bonjour," the young lady said, respectfully holding out her hand.

Michael instantly stepped forward and took her hand gracefully and planted a gentle kiss in the most noble of fashion, "Bonjour quel point c'est un honneur d'être en présence d'un ange."

Nicole seemed completely shocked at this show of French from an American and of what she'd actually heard him say, "My, an American who speaks fluent French?"

"I also speak Italian, German, and I'm working on Greek and Russian," Mike said.

"So a rather well learned American? To think I had assumed that Americans were all Cowboys and Gangsters."

"Uh…I'm a Cowboy," Jack said, a little offended.

Michael waved him aside without looking away from the beautiful young French girl as they continued to talk, "Well those are but a minority. But I can understand your assumption."

"Indeed, when I saw you and the…Cowboy, I thought you were a gangster that walks about carrying a machine gun in a violin case or a pistol in their jacket," she responded.

"Well you were only half right," Mike said, getting an odd look from Nicole, and he pulled his sports jacket open to show the handle of his Colt 1911, "Perhaps later I can teach you to shoot with it?"

"Oh, a Colt 1911 forty-five caliber Semi-Automatic Pistol, standard issue for the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corp. Impressive, but I'd prefer the FN Model 1910. Its size and weight are far more maneuverable with the same stopping power and two more rounds per magazine If you'll excuse me, I have an appointment. Also, don't call me Angel," she said and walked away past them with an entertained smile.

Michael looked on after her as she left to the stairs to wherever it was she was going. He'd just been outsmarted at his own game. If ever there were a girl for him, he'd just found her.

"Oh man, I'm in love," Mike said.

"Her father is the military attaché to the French Embassy, she probably knows more about guns than you do my lad," Basil said patting him on the shoulder.

"Say what?"

They continued walking leaving Michael slightly confused as he stood there taking in what he'd been told.

"Told ya those French girls would see through yer frog speak," Jack knowingly said as he taunted his friend.

"Shut up Cowboy."

**Another one in the books, or catalogued on the site's numerous servers as the case may be. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review sharing your thoughts and impressions of the story thus far.**

**I would like to thank Brilliant Brunette Beauty, yes that's her author name not a pet name of mine, for Beta Reading and helping me with this story. I highly recommend her and her own Indiana Jones story: **_**The Last Crusade**_**, and her follow-up story **_**Flashback. **_**Go check her story out, maybe if enough people ask she'll come out with a sequel.**

**Next Chapter Preview: The hunt is on, but who is doing the hunting, and who is the hunted?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

May 7, 1937

Dover, England

The ball was going to be held outside, and the guests were already arriving. But Elizabeth, Michael, and Jack were not going to be joining the festivities just yet. They had all gathered around a table on the balcony, looking out over the front with a map of Europe in front of them. Elizabeth had wanted to plan their route to Italy beforehand, and as required Jack and Mike were sitting down right next to her. They had roughly three routes that they could take. The first route would be from the Pas-de-Calais to Monaco and then along the coast to Genoa. That route would take them through Paris and the wine country. The scenery would be beautiful as it was early summer when everything is in bloom. Then there was a second more interesting route that was also the shortest. It went straight from Calais, down near the German border, running past Metz, and then straight through Switzerland and the spectacular Italian Alps and going through Milan and then finishing in Genoa. Flying was out of the question as Jack would never be put into a plane, and a boat trip was way too long and expensive. So they decided on taking the train. But at this point, the route was still up in the air.

"I say we take the coast route," Jack said, pointing at the route in question.

"What? And miss seeing the Alps? Come on Jack, it'll be fun," Elizabeth responded.

"Mike please talk some sense into her," Jack groaned.

"I'm gonna have to go with her on this one, sorry pal."

"Oh come on, you know I hate heights," Jack replied with a groan.

"We'll be in a train, not flying," Elizabeth laughed, "You don't have to look out a window when we go over a bridge. And I'll give you ample warning so that you arrive with your senses still intact."

"Oh I feel so much better," Jack grumbled sarcastically.

"Man up you big baby," Mike chuckled playfully, "So I guess by majority vote it is decided, we're going by train via the mountain route."

"Two versus one, sorry Jack," Elizabeth laughed as she gathered up the map and brochures for the areas that they'd found, "Come on, let's get down there."

Elizabeth had of course chosen to wear one of her dresses that she'd packed, this one a more proper looking blue dress sparkling with black inlayed jeweled beads that came past to her feet in the back and was cut up to her knees with slits in the fabric in front. She'd had her hair done up and curled slightly by Miss Heart and her maids for the event and had more makeup on than she did from the all events on the entire trip from America combined. She didn't like it, but she knew that this was more for her father and maintaining appearances. Michael was in a tuxedo, and Jack was…well Jack. He'd been lended one of Sir Basil's jackets for the occasion and had opted to wear his boots and black stiletto. Sir Basil had also encouraged Jack, much to Elizabeth's annoyance, to wear his gun for the party as there would be soldiers, sailors, and officers from Britain, France, and Belgium all there to enjoy a night of festivities. And each of them would have their swords and one or two pistols, so it was perfectly alright for the Cowboy to show that he too had a gun. But Michael had no such luck, he hadn't brought a normal gun belt or holster, all he had was the chest mounted one that he could conceal under his jacket, which he was wearing.

So they were all dressed up for it, so they'd might as well join in if only for a little while before going to bed and getting some sleep. Elizabeth had promised to write home and let her friends and family know all was well and Jack had decided to follow suit after hearing that. But as Jack opened the door and Elizabeth walked in Mike took a quick glance over the railing at the circle drive through and saw something odd, there below him was a single black Bentley, the exact same one that he'd noticed on the hill and turning around when they'd first arrived at the estate they were staying at. The lights of the garden illuminated everything in the garden and he could clearly see that the driver and the passenger were looking up at him. But when he locked eyes with them they quickly averted their eyes suspiciously.

"You comin' Mike?" Jack asked as he stood at the door.

"Yeah," he responded looking down at the Bentley once more and moved over to go inside.

The three of them walked down the stairs and saw that the majority of the people were actually making their way outside to where a small orchestra could be heard playing a gentle melody. The trio went out together through the large glass double doors to see a relative rainbow of different dresses, suits, and military uniforms. There was the light blue of the Royal Air Force, bright crimson of the British Army, dark navy blue of the Royal Navy, of which Sir Basil was wearing with great pride. Then there were three dark blue French Army officers where Michael instantly noticed that was where Nicole DuLin was standing next to a French Colonel who was chatting it up with a pair of Belgian officers wearing a similar uniform to his own. She had taken notice of the three Americans walking in and Michael flashed her confident smile as they came down to join the party. She broke away from the gathered French speakers and made her way over to them.

"Bonjour Nicole," Michael said stepping forward.

"Bonjour, Michael correct?" she asked.

"The one and only," Mike replied with a confident tone.

"Indeed," Nicole giggled, "My, I must say Miss Downey, that dress is simply spectacular," she said moving over to speak to Elizabeth.

"Thank you Nicole, I was thinking the same about yours. But please, you can call me Lizzy, I'm not one for formality," she responded.

"In that case Lizzy, call me Nicole, I cannot stand being called Miss DuLin all night," she responded.

"Nicole, perhaps I could ask for a dance or two?" Mike asked politely, gesturing to the circular slab of marble tile with the seal of Britain in the middle of it.

"I assume you can dance?" Nicole asked.

"Proficiently."

"In that case," Nicole said holding out her hand.

As they walked away Mike flashed a grin and winked at his sister and Jack as he and Nicole made their way to the dance floor. By now Jack had been noticed, and a British RAF Captain came strutting over. He seemed roughly in his thirties, and he wore a pair of circular glasses on his face.

"Ah, I see that my good friend Sir Basil was right, and that he was indeed hosting a trio of Americans. Captain Evenwood, Royal Air Force," the man said.

"Hello, Elizabeth Downey," Elizabeth responded after shaking his hand.

"Howdy, Jack Williams," Jack responded shaking the hand of the British officer.

"I see you dress in the manner of the Western United States, the land of cowboys, red Indians and whatnot."

"Yeah I've done my fair share of cowboyin' back home," Jack responded.

"Well I must ask seeing as you prefer to carry your pistol, do you shoot? I have heard from many people, my father included, that during the Great War you Americans became known for being able to shoot the buttons off a Hun at more than five hundred meters."

"I'm an alright shot, although I don't know about shooting that good without a long gun," Jack shrugged.

"I say, would you be up to a bit of sport? I am dying to know how good you cowboys are in a gunfight."

"Are suggesting that he…" Elizabeth stammered, hearing that and thinking that they intended to fight.

"My dear I assure you, we do not intend to spill blood at this fine gathering. We simply wish to have a contest of speed and accuracy, so what do you say my lad. Are you, as you Americans say, game?"

Jack looked over at Elizabeth and shrugged, "I reckon I'm game."

"Excellent, we had planned our little sport to take place at eight o'clock. It would be simply splendid if you could show."

Meanwhile, Mike and Nicole had begun their first dance, and Mike, bored with a simple dance, struck up a conversation.

"So Nicole? Mind if I ask a question?" he started.

"Why not?" she replied, "I will answer anything that is proper, considering that I just met you this morning."

"How about for a start how you know so much about guns. It isn't every day you meet a beautiful young lady such as yourself with an intimate working knowledge of weapons," Mike asked.

"Well, my father is a Colonel in the French Army, he used to be part of Army Procurement and I would go with him as a little girl to the testing and exhibition of new weapons. From there I began to broaden my scope of knowledge, asking the other military attaches in London about the weaponry of their respective armies. And as for your particular weapon, I know much about it because I own one," she replied.

"Really?" Mike asked, showing great interest.

"Among others. I also own a German MP40, a Lee Enfield Mark One, a Berthier Carbine, a Lebel, and one of your Thompson Submachine Guns, and let's see…what else?"

"You own a Tommy Gun?! How did you get your hands on one of those? And how did your dad let you have one of those much less an arsenal?" he continued.

"My father hardly knows what I do on a day to day basis, much less what my weapons collection is made of, I do what I wish, when I wish it."

"Still, that's a lot of firepower, for a lovely mademoiselle such as yourself."

"Is there something wrong with a lovely mademoiselle owning a gun?" she taunted.

"Well I didn't mean it that way," Mike stuttered, "I think it's really cool that you kinda break the status quo with having and knowing so much about guns. You could say I'm a kindred spirit in a way."

"And how exactly would you be a kindred spirit to moi?" she slyly asked.

"Well, I bet you wouldn't be able to find many people outside of the military who knows how a Thompson's friction-delayed blowback action, or the complexities of how a plane flies, or how a car accelerates. You see, we in America like new things, some of us more than others," Mike chuckled, motioning to Jack as he stood next to Elizabeth talking with a few women near a row of hedges.

"I see that you are indeed well learned," she said as the song they had been dancing to ended.

Applause sounded as the next song was announced and began but Nicole seemed tired of dancing, "I think I shall sit the next song out. At least for now."

"Sounds alright, care for some refreshments?" Mike offered.

"That would be nice," Nicole responded, "Do you even know where the refreshments are?"

"No, not really," Mike responded with a good natured grin on his face.

"Follow me," Nicole said walking towards the back door just as a rather large man walked through wearing a white tuxedo and most auspicious of all, a highly embroidered eye patch over his left eye.

"Count Jaegar!" Sir Basil greeted with a cheer.

"Guten tag Sir Basil," the large man called out jovially.

"He's a German?!" Mike whispered to Nicole as they passed the man who spared them a side glance with his good eye.

"No, he's Austrian, he used to be a General commanding Austrian colonial forces in Africa before he defected to the British," Nicole responded, "Don't ask me how I found that out, I'm not supposed to know."

"I see," Michael said as he watched the truly massive man speak like old friends with many of the other men and women present, quickly becoming the center of attention.

"I heard my father say that he had become quite the treasure hunter, going around and finding all manner of ancient artifacts for his rather large collection in Hochosterwitz Castle, which he bought using the spoils of his tomb robbing or as he calls it, archaeology," Nicole said distastefully.

"I see you don't like him very much," Mike said as they walked into the building.

"No, he's a scoundrel. I would not trust that man with a single franc!" she hissed, "Much less my implicit trust like those fools."

The two of them made it to the serving area where several different types of small platters to pick small morsels to snack on as well a waiter who sat behind a bar cleaning and managing the semi-busy bar. Nicole walked up first and asked for a glass of wine and Mike decided to do likewise. As the wine was poured Mike noticed almost out of the corner of his eye a pair of men wearing simple suits, nothing too fancy, walking away from the party, looking behind themselves as they made their way to the staircase. He nudged Nicole a bit and carefully spoke low enough that the men going up the stairs wouldn't hear him.

"Hey Nicole, is there anything upstairs? Like a smoking room or something?" he asked.

"No, why? Don't tell me you smoke," she groaned.

"Of course not, I was just wondering because those two guys just went upstairs," he nodded his head over.

"What?!" she hissed, catching a glimpse of the trailing man's leg as he disappeared upstairs, "There's nothing up there but the room I'm staying in."

"And ours," Mike said putting the now empty glass down and walked over to the stairs.

"Where are you going?" she asked as he made his way over.

"Seeing what they're up to."

Nicole was slightly confused, but then she too downed her wine and made to follow him upstairs. To any uninformed observers it would have looked like something completely different than them going upstairs to spy on a couple of people who had suspiciously detached themselves from the party and stealthily made their way upstairs. After all, they were a boy and girl of the same young age going upstairs where there was plenty of privacy, but that wasn't on their minds. Nicole kicked off her high heels and grasped them in hand and followed Mike up the stairs and was able to stay quiet and light on her feet because of it.

"Well? You see them?" she asked as they got to the top of the stairs.

"No, but I think I hear 'em down there by our rooms," he responded, then unbuttoned his jacket and unclipped the holster for his pistol.

"Well don't just there come on you sissy," she hissed and made her way down the hall and took off ahead of him.

"Nicole!" he hissed, trying to catch up with her.

As they walked down the hall, Nicole refusing to yield the lead they could start to hear hushed voices coming from around the corner.

"They're down there," she said, and Mike moved over to try and see them for himself. As he did so he noticed something about the voices, "They're speaking German," he whispered.

"Germans? What would those Huns be doing up here?" Nicole whispered.

"Search me," Mike responded with a shrug and peaked out the corner again to see that they were walking out and moving down the hall, looking at every room, and jiggling the door handles, opening the ones that weren't locked. Mike remembered that neither he nor Jack and certainly not Elizabeth had locked their doors and they were near to reaching the rooms they were staying in.

When they got to Nicole's door one of them opened the door and walked in as his buddy went to stand in front of it to keep watch. Whoever they were, they had clearly done this before, or been taught to do it.

"What are they doing?" Nicole demanded.

"Well one of them just went into your room," he responded, and then things about went wild.

"What?! My room?! Ces belettes intolérables quand je mets la main sur eux!" she growled in rapid French.

"Easy there," Mike snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders and yanking her back. But as he did so her arm hit an umbrella holder filled with old hardly ever used, umbrellas that could have dated to King Arthur. The noise and sight of the toppling container easily alerted the two men, who whispered to each other and the one in Nicole's room quickly made his escape and joined his partner and carefully walked towards the hidden duo.

"Nice going you imbécile maladroit!" she hissed at him.

"I'm the clumsy fool here, you're the hothead that caused that!" Mike responded with equal anger.

"Shh…they're coming!"

"We need to get out of here," Nicole said and turned to go, but Mike held her back.

"They're too close," Mike said, hearing the footfalls drawing ever closer.

"Then what should we do genius?" she hissed.

"I have an idea, but you're not gonna like it," Mike said back his mind whirling with possible solutions.

"At this I don't care," Nicole responded testily, "Just do it!"

"Alright," Mike sighed and then took a deep breath as he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into him. Nicole instinctively put her hands on his chest to keep some personal space between them out of instinct as Mike wrapped his hands around her lower back. But what surprised her most was that he quickly leaned into her and brought their lips crashing together in a rather one-sided kiss. She squeaked slightly in surprise at the sudden and rather out of the blue maneuver. But she figured it out after a second and going along with it wrapped her hands around Mike's neck and returned the kiss passionately.

Then Mike went a bit further by backing out into the hall that the two men were coming from and walked nearly into one of them.

"Oh, sorry didn't see ya there fellas," Mike said, acting it up, smiling goofily as the two of them separated, breathing fairly hard from their 'exertions.'

"No, it's our fault we were looking for Sir Basil's office. We uh-got lost," the leader of the two said, his voice barely registering a German accent.

"His office is downstairs to the left," Nicole said.

"Oh, thank you," the other one of them replied and both awkwardly made their around the two supposed 'lovers.'

The two of them quickly disappeared behind the corner and their steps were easily heard going down the steps and then a quick burst of conversation was heard going on that neither Mike nor Nicole could really hear all that well.

"Quickly, my room," Nicole said, grabbing Mike's hand and rushing into her room that hadn't been shut.

"Well after one kiss we're already in your room. I like where this is going," Mike smoothly said as he closed the door behind them.

"No you insufferable little…listen, they came into my room and I need to know what they were looking for. That will help me figure out who they are and what they want."

"Oh, right," Mike said giving her a wink she just groaned at as she searched her room and drawers as Mike searched her closet.

"I don't think they took anything," Nicole said, real relief flooding into her voice.

"Well that's good," Mike said, walking over and sitting in a chair by the window and chanced a look outside.

"Well yes and no," Nicole said, "On the one hand they didn't take anything valuable and that is always good. But, because they didn't take anything that still leaves us without any clues as to their motivation. Why were they sneaking around looking at my room?"

"How are you so sure it was your room they were looking for?" he responded, "My sister, Jack, and myself are just down the hall from you. They could have been looking for our rooms but they mistook your room for my sister's and didn't find what they were looking for."

"If that were the case then your sister must be in the ownership of something quite special," Nicole grumbled as she sat down in a chair across from Mike.

"I can't think of anything. I'm the one holding onto the spending money my father gave us, that rules out thievery."

"Or not, they hadn't gotten to your room yet."

"Because you spooked them!" Mike pointed an accusing finger.

"I would not have spooked them if you hadn't pulled me back like a fool!" she snapped back.

"Oh I'm the fool?! How am I the fool when none of that wouldn't have happened if you would have kept your cool, although if you hadn't have done that then we wouldn't have had our little…"

"That reminds me," Nicole said warmly, then whirled around and delivered a pretty brutal blow, not with a slap, but with a closed fisted right hook.

Mike's head snapped back, and he toppled over backwards, falling to the ground still in the position of sitting in the chair. He shook his head trying to clear the stars from his vision and looked up at a now very satisfied Nicole.

"That was unladylike," he grumbled as he tried getting to his feet.

"Well, I'm not exactly a_ lady_ am I?" Nicole responded.

"I suppose not," Mike said, feeling his lip to see if he was bleeding. Fortunately he wasn't.

"Shh…" she said, now looking over at the window that overlooked the area where the partiers seemed to have congregated. There, a group of mostly military men were standing behind a line made of chalk on the grass. In front of them were several targets, all of them a large circle with the normal bulls-eye in the center. Mike could see Jack plainly enough, standing next to Elizabeth in the back of the crowd. She seemed to be laughing it up with a bunch of other ladies and girls as Jack stood watching the preparations for what seemed to be a shooting contest.

"A shooting contest? Come on, let's go," Mike said, moving to leave to go see what was going on and perhaps take part.

"No, like you said, we're under the guise of lovers. It would be suspicious of us to reappear before the shooting starts. Especially with them standing right there," Nicole pointed, showing the two German speaking men they'd followed and spied on, "And look who they're standing behind, Count Jaegar. I should have known."

The big guy wasn't speaking to them, but they did seem to really look at him like one would view a boss or superior. They were clearly in with him, with him being the mastermind.

"That treasure hunter?" Mike asked, then stopped before speaking as he heard his own words. _Treasure hunter! He's after the same thing we're after!_ "Nicole, we need to get down there and speak with my sister and Jack now."

"What?! Why?"

"I think I just figured out why those guys were creeping into your room."

"That's not a very good explanation!" she growled as she followed him back into the hall.

"I'll explain later, come on."

Mike quickly straightened his tux out and fixed his bowtie and rushed down the stairs as Nicole struggled to catch up with him. As he got to the bottom of the stairs he slowed down, and let Nicole catch up and put her heels back on. Together, still in the guise of being "together" they walked out and gradually maneuvered through the crowd to where Elizabeth was standing talking with Miss Heart and several other people. So Mike went up to her and tapped her on the shoulder to gain her attention.

"Lizzy, I need to talk to you, now," he said, his tone low and serious. This got her attention instantly, and the two of them went back over to where Nicole was standing watching the first contenders, including Jack and her father, line up to take his turn at firing at the targets. There were six of them, all arranged in a line directly opposite of the six shooters.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.

"We need to go, now," Mike said affirmatively, "Nicole and I saw the two guys that are standing next to Count Jaegar over there snooping around upstairs. I think they were looking to steal that notebook of yours Lizzy."

"My-my notebook?" she stammered, "There's nothing in my notebook except my-my research on the Treasure of the First Emperor and the Shield of Gallia," she whispered, more to herself in realization.

"The what?!" Nicole asked, dreadfully confused as to what the two siblings were talking about.

"The Treasure of the First Emperor. It's supposed to be a great hidden treasure that Julius Caesar hid in the mountains of Italy to keep it from the Senate when he made his bid to take power in 49 B.C. Among that treasure was supposedly a powerful green ruby that made whoever held it invincible, but no one really believes that of course. We've come to Europe on an expedition to find it for ourselves. But-but why would those guys be looking to steal it from me?" Elizabeth asked.

"Count Jaegar fancies himself an archaeologist, but is nothing more than a tomb robber. I've heard some troubling things about the lengths he'll go to in order to find his treasures and artifacts. Stealing is just his speed," Nicole said definitively.

"Well," Elizabeth said, "Did they steal it? Because if he did we can call him out on it right here right now. These guys all have guns, you and Jack have your guns," Elizabeth suggested.

"It's alright Lizzy," Mike said, calming her down, "They didn't even find your room. We sort of spooked them off when we were watching them."

"Wow Mike, busy I see," she laughed noticing that everything that happened had been with Mike and Nicole within very close proximity.

"It's not like that, sure we kissed to trick those two into thinking that we were…you know," Nicole said.

"But I think she likes me," Mike whispered to his sister.

"Oui, that is why I punched you for kissing me once we were out of sight," Nicole snapped, having heard what Mike had said.

By now, the shooting competition began, with Jack being on the far right. Elizabeth noticed this and dragged Mike over so that once the competition was over they could alert him to the situation. But there was no stopping the competition now, and Jack seemed to be in the zone. And when the signal for the first person to start shooting went out it started.

The objective was to see who could empty six rounds into the target the most accurately in the shortest time possible. There were three Brits, Two French, and a single American, Jack. The first to go was a British Army Major, who pulled out a Webley Mk. III and took aim, firing quickly and hitting the target across the board in eight seconds. He'd gone for speed instead of accuracy, and that had cost him. The elder British man seemed a bit cross at the lack of high scoring hits at the first go and the turn went to a French Captain who had a Modele 1935 Semi-Automatic and fired six more well aimed rounds, but the kick of the gun had kept his time at about ten seconds. His accuracy hadn't suffered, but he'd taken longer. The other British and Frenchman competitors went with very similar results, with the leader of it all being Colonel DuLin with a fairly accurate grouping that the group of aristocrats and officers gave him a fairly decent applause over. That left it to Jack, and his trusty Colt Peacemaker.

"And go!" the announcer said and he was off.

Jack quickly drew his pistol, and stopped at the hip and pulled the trigger and held it as he aimed and brought his other hand down to swipe the action in what was a tried and true speed trick he'd learned from his dad. From the hip he was easily able to control the recoil of the powerful Colt and rapidly sent six rounds right into the middle three sections within a foot of the first shot. He'd even clipped the bull-eye of the target, much to the shock of the gathered Europeans. And it happened in less than four seconds, a full three seconds faster than the previous leader. His accuracy was roughly the same as Colonel DuLin, but it was the time that had won him the day.

"Haha! Well done my American friend!" the big white-suited Austrian man called out, clapping Jack on the shoulder as a respectable applause went out from the rather stunned Euros.

"Thanks, I've had practice. Me and my pa would go out shooting with his buddies at Fort Hood all the time," Jack said as the tally came in and Elizabeth went over and carefully navigated her way to Jack to try and get him off to the side.

"Jack, we need to talk," she said, nodding over to the other two of their group.

"Alright, lead on Lizzy," he said as he wormed his way out of the crowd.

"Let's go somewhere, quieter," Mike said, "I don't want to be heard."

"What's this about partner? We do somethin' wrong?" Jack asked.

"No," Elizabeth said as they walked inside and went over to a secluded little study.

"Jack, someone tried to break into our rooms. More specifically I believe it was Lizzy's they were trying to break into," Mike said quietly.

"What?!" Jack spat out.

"Shh…keep your voice down," Mike hissed.

"Well did you see who it was? What did they take?" Jack asked as he began reloading his pistol one bullet at a time.

"Calm down Jack, we spooked them before they found Lizzy's room," Nicole said.

"We? What were you two doing together up by our rooms?" Jack asked slyly, making Nicole blush angrily and Mike grin slightly at seeing the French girl frustrated again.

"We followed them you lordaud!" she hissed.

"Come again? I don't speak frog," Jack said as he raised his eyebrow, not understanding the French girl's insult.

"She called you an oaf," Mike replied candidly.

"That ain't too kind of ya."

"Well that's not on my list of priorities," Elizabeth interjected, "What do we do? If those guys were supposedly working for that big Austrian then what chance do we have of them believing us?"

"None, he's well known among the people here. He's got credibility on his side," Nicole said affirmatively.

"So what do we do? We can't just pull a gun on him and say you're under arrest," Mike replied to that.

"We leave," Nicole smartly responded, "There's a ferry that leaves to Calais shortly before ten o'clock. If we hurry we can make it and get a train and be long gone."

"Hold on little lady, when did we become buddies?"

"When you needed somewhere to go and besides, I sense adventure, and I would love a chance to get out and do something different other than go to parties and balls every night."

"Well she does travel, and she is from France. It's her country, I say we let her," Mike stated, standing on her side as well.

"I don't know, this seems fairly dangerous to me," Jack said, "Lizzy, maybe we should try heading back to the US. Just to be safe."

"Go back?! No! We can't just give up after a little hiccup!" Elizabeth snapped, "If we go back, what good will coming all this way have done us? Nothing!"

"Alright, alright," Jack responded, "I get it, and I'm with ya. Just concerned is all."

"Well than two out of three, I guess you're in Nicole."

"Good, now, let's get going while the party is still under way. We might be able to slip away unnoticed."

So while Elizabeth and Nicole went to inform Sir Basil and Nicole's father, respectively, of their plans and a vague reason for them leaving, Jack and Mike began quickly grabbing the things that they had planned to take on the trip. They quickly grabbed two bags of the bare necessities for the final leg and then packed up the rest to reclaim on their way home. Elizabeth had already packed her own stuff in two bags for the final part and was ready. Nicole had to quickly pack her own pair of bags of her own stuff that would work for the trials that were sure to come. For the girls there were no dresses, no make-up, and nothing of a feminine nature that would just slow them down and take up space. They had pants, shirts, tough leather jackets, and boots for the outdoors. So after getting ready they were met outside by a single chauffeur who was to drive them to Dover, and see them off on what was to become an adventure of a lifetime.

However, as they left, the one good eye of Count Wolfman Jaegar caught a glimpse of them with bags in hand, leaving out the front door.

* * *

**Calais, France**

**Eight Hours Later**

* * *

The ferry ride wasn't at all that exciting, just a small paddleboat that made the crossing in little more than an hour. They were one of the few people on board and quickly made it into the port of Calais where they had to walk to the nearby train station. Once there, they had to wait for an hour to get a train to Lyon, which was the soonest possible way towards their objective of reaching the city of Genoa so that they'd be able to get to the job of finding the location of Caesar's Treasure.

The train was a nice one, with plenty of space for them to get two cabins, one for the guys and one for the girls. Their trip would last through the night and they had yet to eat anything so once the guys were settled into their cabin they went right next door to the girls' cabin.

"Hey ladies," Mike called, knocking on the door, "You all settled?"

The door opened to reveal Nicole in a pair of khaki pants and black knee high boots and a leather jacket over a blue shirt. It was not the spectacular dress that she'd worn earlier, but to Mike's eyes, anything she wore looked good. Elizabeth was wearing a similar set of clothes. She wore khaki pants and a white long sleeve shirt that she'd rolled the sleeves up on. Her hair was down, not in a ponytail like she would normally have it. On her feet she wore a pair of black boots that didn't come up as high on her calves as Nicole's did but came about as high as Jack's own cowboy boots.

"Yes, we're all settled. You both going to get some food?" she asked.

"Yeah, you wanna come?" Mike asked again.

"Of course, Lizzy, come, let's get something to eat."

"I'll be there in a minute, I just need to finish up writing this entry into my expedition journal," Elizabeth called out from a seat she had next to the window.

"Okay, why are making a journal entry?" Jack asked.

"For Professor Jones, I need to make an entry showing my progress and observations for my credits. Remember this is also partially for a grade," she replied, "Don't wait on me, go ahead. I'm almost done."

"Alright fine, the food coach is two cars to the back so don't get lost," Mike said to his sister.

"I know, go on," she responded, waving them away.

"Alright, don't be late," Jack said, being the last to leave as he shut the door.

Elizabeth smiled to herself as she settled in to finish the final paragraph of her entry into her journal. She'd had a little while to get to know Nicole DuLin since departing the Heart Estate, and she'd really hit it off with her. Nicole and Elizabeth seemed very similar in many ways, both saw themselves as independent young women who could take care of themselves and do things that a woman in most people's eyes shouldn't be able to do. She had already written into her journal entry that she had met Nicole and had set about describing her and as she finished with that and moved on to their destination and the route they were taking she heard the floor creak slightly outside her door.

Then the door rattled a bit as whoever was outside knocked firmly. Elizabeth sighed and closed the journal around her pencil as the person outside knocked again. _Must be one of the boys wanting to know what I want to eat,_ she thought. She stood up, and brushed down her gray pants and went to the door. She calmly opened it, expecting to see Mike or Jack standing with a menu that she could take her pick from. But when she opened it she did not see Mike or Jack, or even Nicole. What she was confronted with was a large man wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. On his collar was a small gold, red and black pennant, the Swastika. There were two other men behind him as well, with all being roughly the same size and having the same brown hair.

"Hey who-," she said before being attacked.

But before she made another noise a strong leather gloved hand grabbed her and shoved her back. Surprised at this Elizabeth fell backwards as another hand slammed down around her mouth. She was shoved backwards into the cabin, making room for two men to walk in. One was one she had seen in the hall. The other was a totally different one who simply went and sat down as the two others struggled to subdue the blonde American girl. But it would not be easy. Elizabeth curled her fist and struck the first man in the nose, but with little effect. As he held her in place she threw another attempted punch that hit him again in the face, but again with little effect. As this continued she felt her arms painfully pulled behind her back as she was forced back towards the table and shoved into a chair opposite of the man that had already sat down.

One man continued his vice grip around her mouth, causing all of her cried to come out as muffled whispers and squeals. She was in no way capable of fending off these men who in between them had at least a hundred pounds advantage over her. But she still resisted, even as one of them tied her hands behind her back with a small length of rope. She tried pulling against the rope, but nothing seemed to work. Her binds were too tight, and the more she resisted the more the rough material dug into her skin. Her feet too were tied together, only her boots protecting her ankles from being rubbed raw by her furious and defiant resistance. But then the fighting stopped.

"I would suggest you cooperate fraulein, this will all be over soon enough, as long as you are quiet," the man ordered, his voice thick with a German accent. To add to this threat he calmly pulled a menacing Luger pistol from his jacket and set it next to her journal to make his point, "It would be a pity for me to have to use this on your friends and brother and then you."

Elizabeth's eyes widened at that declaration and stopped resisting instantly. The man motioned calmly with his finger and the hand around her mouth hesitantly let go and he backed up against the wall. The man in front of her seemed to be what a person thinks when they think German. He was strongly built, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and had a scar going along his cheek bone on the left side of his face. He was large, and fairly intimidating, and seemed every bit the soldier. He held his hands clasped together on the table as he looked at his now helpless prisoner.

"Who-who are you? What do you want?" she asked, her hands trembling slightly even as they were bound behind the chair.

"Who I am is of no importance Miss Downey, what I want on the other hand," the man trailed off, signaling one of his men to start searching through her bags, "Do you know much about the Shield of Gallia?"

"The Shield of Gallia? It-it was a large ruby, said to protect anyone who possesses it from harm," Elizabeth responded shakily, searching her mind quickly, "But it's just a rumor, a myth."

"Ah, that is where you are wrong. It seems that there are some things in this world that are said to be myths," the man replied, "And yet, are not."

"What do you mean?" she responded, her voice barely a whisper.

"The Shield of Gallia is of special interest to the Third Reich, it is our job to see to this interest. Your pursuit of the Treasure of Caesar gets in the way of our quest. At first we were going to kill you and make sure you disappeared. However, I am merciful, and think that you are smart enough to simply walk away from this expedition of yours and forget that this ever happened," he responded, getting to his feet as he walked around the table and out of her line of sight. She tried following him, but couldn't turn her head far enough. She saw just then the man who had been digging through her bag hold up her notebook, the one she'd placed every note and scrap of information she had on the Treasure, "And I see my subordinate has found what we were looking for."

"My notebook?" Elizabeth asked, seeing the book in question being handed to the man who'd gone behind her.

"Yes, on behalf of the Third Reich I would like to thank you for your contribution to our efforts, mein fraulein. It is greatly appreciated," he said as he pocketed the book, "Our business here is concluded," he said at that moment as he took a white scarf that the guy behind her held out to him. Elizabeth then saw the scarf drop down past her face and then knew what was coming. She tried squirming away and before she got a sound out the thick cloth was pulled tightly in between her teeth, effectively gagging her. She couldn't push it loose as the man then tied it tightly enough to pull it far enough that it rested on top of her tongue, quickly drying her mouth it. Once he was finished he stepped to the side and brushed a bit of hair away from her face and pulled it to his nose and took a deep whiff. She whimpered at the gesture and tried desperately not to show fear at how wrong and it had felt, and what he might do next. But this only served to make the man chuckle as he stood up straight and turned to leave, "Now Miss Downey, we part ways, auf wiedersehen."

And just like that he walked out, and his men followed, throwing victorious smirks at the bound and gagged girl as they passed out of sight. Elizabeth gave them death glares as they departed and closed the door behind them. She then let loose with an effort to try and get loose and call out for help. But every noise that came out of her mouth came in the form muffled grunts and quiet squeals. She started rocking back and forth trying to yank herself out of the chair and make some kind of noise. But that only succeeded in hurting her side as she hit the floor. As she lay there, trying to squirm her way to a place where she could kick something to make noise she began thinking about what that man had shared with her about the Shield of Gallia.

_The Shield is supposed to make the person who possesses it invincible. But it's a myth! Or what if it's not a myth? What it is true? If that is true then if the Nazis get their hands on it then Europe could fall before them without even a chance at being able to win. And if Europe falls then the USA might soon follow_. That thought process continued as she tried kicking against the floor with her feet and hands still bound and her speech cut off by the gag in her mouth. But she had made her decision, even before she was capable of acting on it.

_We have to stop them! _

**And done with another chapter. And now the plot is thrown into gear, no more boring stuff, time for some action. Stick around, hit the follow button to see what happens next time. And leave a review letting me know what you think of this chapter and the story as a whole.**

**Next Chapter Preview: Stopping the Nazis, and not having a clue how to do it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

En route to Lyon, France

May 8, 1937

It had been roughly ten minutes since Jack, Mike, and their new friend Nicole had gone to grab something to eat, even though it was extremely late, closer to morning than it was to midnight. There was not anyone at all that would have taken their order aside from a sleeping waiter. Mike had woken him up, much to the older man's annoyance, who instantly, upon seeing their age, scolded them on being up too late and to get some sleep. But as always, money talks, and it only took twenty dollars to get the waiter from scolding them to taking their orders.

It was tough to order something for Elizabeth though. Mike had told them that she was a picky eater and that ordering for her would probably result in her not liking the food that he'd chosen for her. So, Mike had turned to Jack.

"Hey Jack, why don't you take this and ask Elizabeth what she wants, she's pretty picky. Don't want her to have an episode like she would when we were kids," Mike said, handing the paper menu over.

"And what about you two?" Jack asked.

"We're still deciding, I'm leaning towards an omelet myself. It is getting close to morning after all," Mike responded with a shrug,

"I think I will simply have something light, then go back to sleep," Nicole replied, deciding on the opposite of what Mike was saying he planned on doing.

"Fine, be right back," Jack responded, turning around and starting to walk forward to their own car where Elizabeth was more than likely still writing.

It wouldn't have been the first time that Elizabeth had put work and studying before food. So Jack figured that he would have to get her order, a very specific order, judging by her track record of being a picky eater. So he knew he'd have to ask her to write it down. So once he got to the train car where he knew that Elizabeth's room was in he noticed a pair of men walking into a room in the next coach over. However that didn't keep his attention. A quiet constant banging noise was emanating from the room that Elizabeth and Nicole were sharing. He could also a much quieter sound that sounded like muffled screams. Jack was not a suspicious guy, but this was not the type of thing that he couldn't not be suspicious about. So he twisted the door handle and knocked.

"Lizzy? You there?" he called, and instantly heard the sounds intensify. He then pushed the door in, and peered into the room to see that the bags belonging to Elizabeth and Nicole had their contents strewn across the floor and then continued to poke his head in to see something that shocked him.

There was Elizabeth lying on her side. Her hands were bound behind her back and a white scarf was tied between her teeth. Her eyes had an urgent pleading look in them. A chair separated her arms and hands from her back as they'd been tied originally behind her back at the table. But why this had happened and who had done this had yet to be discovered as there was a more pressing issue at hand. Her muffled squeals of distress prompted him forward instantly as she thrashed about on the floor.

"Oh my God! You alright Lizzy?" he asked as he dragged her forward a bit to get her away from the chair and then sat her up against the wall. He pulled the gag out of her mouth, and Elizabeth gasped instantly upon its removal coughing as it was removed.

"I'm…I'm okay, but they took my notebook! They threatened to kill us!" she stammered out once she could properly speak again.

Jack began working on cutting her binds, starting with her legs. But stopped upon hearing this, "What?! Who did?!"

Only one word came from her lips after he asked that.

"Nazis!"

"What?!" Jack snapped, hearing that one word but not understanding why.

"They're after the Treasure, we gotta stop them. Untie me come on!" she hurriedly ordered him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jack snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders, "You do hear what you're saying right?"

"Dammit Jack!" she snapped, "I know exactly what I'm saying, I've only been bound and gagged here for ten minutes. I have had time to think this through. I'll explain everything once we get Mike and Nicole back here."

"You'd better."

Jack took his pocket knife and cut through the ropes binding her ankles together quickly and then carefully did the same to the ropes on her wrists. It was delicate work especially since a slip of the hand could cut into her wrist and bleed her badly. That was the last thing he wanted to do to a girl he had strong feelings for. Once her binds were cut she jumped to her feet and instantly made for the door and looked both directions to see if anyone was watching.

"Come on!" she motioned, quickly ducking into the hall to make her way towards the dining carriage.

"Lizzy!" Jack snapped, charging after the furious blonde.

It didn't take long at all for them to make it into the dining carriage as Nicole and Mike were served their fresh steaming omelets. Mike looked up at his sister and instantly furrowed his brow at how sudden and quickly she had run into the carriage.

"Lizzy? I know that we were all hungry but really?" he chuckled.

"Mike this is no time for your sarcasm!" she snapped loudly getting the attention of the waiter who looked up from where he was setting up several other tables.

"Lizzy? You alright?" Nicole asked carefully, examining the flushed and rapidly breathing girl.

"No! None of us are alright!" she said, "I was just attacked, tied up, and gagged in our room by a bunch of Nazis!"

"What?! Nazis?!" Nicole shouted, standing to her feet instantly. She knew the danger in this, she as a Frenchwoman knew the dangerous history of Germany and was also sleeping in the same room as Elizabeth. It could have very easily been her that had been attacked and who knew what else.

"It's true partner, I walked in and saw her tied and gagged like someone had jumped her," Jack elaborated.

"Where are they? When I get my hands on them-," Mike snapped, standing up and slamming his napkin on the table and reached into his jacket to grab his pistol. This was his sister that had just claimed to have been assaulted and his best friend had just verified what she'd said. Now someone needed to pay.

"Mike! Wait, there's more. This wasn't just some Krauts looking to harass me because I'm some cute blonde. They were after my notes on the Treasure of Caesar, and more specifically, the Shield of Gallia. Apparently they think it's real, and that it can do what the legends say it can," Elizabeth said as she placed her hand on her brother's arm to prevent him from drawing his weapon.

"They what? They believe that?!" Jack said, not really believing that.

"They say that it is, and if what they've been doing in recent months is any indicator you can guess what they'll use it for if they end up finding it. The Germans will try to conquer the world."

"With France being the first target," Nicole whispered, realizing the danger to her own nation and more personally her father.

"Then Britain, and then America," Elizabeth said definitively, looking to her brother and Jack who were now stunned at this train of thought and what the imagined consequences might be.

"Are you serious?" Mike asked, "Do you honestly think that a big green ruby can protect you from anything? And that the Nazis could even use it?"

"Yes I do. If we don't do something to stop them then think of what could happen. They could attach that thing to some super weapon and they'd be unstoppable. If we don't stop them then who will?" she said.

"I will," Nicole said, "Real or not those Germans are after something that is a danger to my country, I will not let them accomplish their goal. With or without you, I will try."

There was a moment of silence as Mike and Jack just shuffled their feet and thought of the situation, what the consequences would be if they did nothing, and what the consequences would be if they did do something. If they did nothing there was still a chance that the Nazis aboard the train might just try and kill them anyway, to silence them. If they tried stopping them there was at least a chance they could succeed and live. Both guys knew either way, they were in danger, but if Elizabeth was proven right then the danger wouldn't be limited to the four of them.

"Alright, let's do it."

"Okay, let's find those Nazi creeps," Elizabeth said firmly, pounding her fist into an open palm.

"Yeah…where are they?" Jack asked.

"Front carriage," the waiter called out.

"Huh-what?" Mike asked, not realizing that the man had just heard everything.

"The men you are talking about, the one lead by the blonde haired German. He is in the very front of the carriage on the right side with his own room."

"Oh, okay, thanks," Jack said, moving towards the front after drawing his pistol.

"Wait!" Nicole ordered, "I'm going too."

"You girls stay back here," Jack said, holding his hand up to say that they were not to come.

"You're not doing this without me," Elizabeth said, "I've got a bone to pick with that guy!"

"No you can't come with us Elizabeth!" Mike groaned, "It's too dangerous."

"Oh and you two can go?! As if, suck it up boys!" Elizabeth snapped.

"Give me a moment to go back to my room, I have a pair of pistols that I brought for a situation like this," Nicole said.

"You suspected that Nazis would track us and steal my journal? While planning to take over the world?" Elizabeth asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Fine, I brought them to deter pickpockets, now come Lizzy, you can borrow one."

The two girls quickly hurried back to their carriage with Jack and Mike right behind them. Their rooms were on the way, and as they made their way forward Nicole pointed out that they would need to pack the one or two bags they had with them because they may not be able to return to pick them back up. Thankfully the bags that they'd brought were tough ones, each had a backpack and a satchel packed with clothes, their passports, notes, and a few camping items. But also in Nicole's satchel were two identical pistols, Walther PP's, pocket pistols. After a brief instruction Nicole taught Elizabeth how to load, aim, and operate the small and light weapon. Elizabeth eagerly took the quick Pistol-101 class in and hid the fact that she was uneasy that she might have to actually aim and fire the thing at someone with the intent to kill or maim. Mike and Jack quickly got their backpacks put on and strapped their pistols down within easy reach and waited just at the door to the carriage that was in between them and their opponents. Then after a quick couple moments they heard the door to the girls' room open and the now armed group was ready.

"I'll lead, stay quiet," Mike said intently, "We sneak up there, grab the notebook, and try and find a way off of the train before they realize we were even there."

"Why do you lead?" Nicole asked with an offended tone.

"Because I'm in charge, I'm the oldest," Mike responded.

"Oh and how old are you again Mike?" Nicole snapped.

"Twenty thank you very much."

"And have you ever tried sneaking up on a group of armed men on a train in the late hours of night?" she asked.

"Have you?" Mike snapped back.

"Oh get a room you two," Jack grumbled as he shoved Mike back, "Stay behind me and stay _quiet_," he growled at Mike and Nicole and opened the door to begin making their way towards where they needed to go.

After a moment's hesitation the rest of the group followed anxiously, carefully making their way into the carriage that held no one they needed to worry about, but was the basic buffer between them and the Nazis' coach. At the extremely late hour of four forty-five there was no one awake to see the armed teens sneaking down the hall on the side of the car. In this part of the coach there was usually rooms on the side of the coach with a hall spanning down the length of with the window on the opposite side being the wall. The pitch black of the French countryside flashed by their window without hardly a single pinprick of light shining out in the darkness. The hall was dimmed quite a bit, allowing them to be less conspicuous. So without any difficulty they reached the point of no return.

"This is it," Jack said, "There's still time to turn back."

"Oh shut up and get on with it," Elizabeth snapped.

"Open the door," Mike nodded to Jack who looked through the window to see that the dimmed lights revealed no one moving about and that they were clear to go.

"Here we go," Jack breathed as he slid the door open and then moved quickly with revolver in hand to open the door and slipped inside.

He winced slightly as he heard the howling of the wind and the loud chugging noises of the train outside and beckoned everyone else inside as quickly as possible. First Mike ran in, then Nicole and then Elizabeth right behind her and left Jack to shut the door. The loud noises from outside ceased, and thankfully hadn't awakened anyone from what they could tell. Everyone had a gun in hand by now, with Jack holding his in his right hand, hammer drawn back ready to fire. Mike was beginning to get jumpy as they crept forward, one foot in front of another. Elizabeth stayed mere feet behind Nicole who seemed to be the calmest of them all, including Jack, as they made it to the end of the train. This was where the guy who had taken Elizabeth's notebook was supposed to be. However, now that they were here not one of them had a clue as to what to do next.

"What now?" Jack asked, "We're here."

"Allow me," Nicole whispered as she tucked her gun into her pants and then pulled a small hair pin from her hair and kneeled down to start picking the lock, "Keep an eye out for me."

"Have you ever done this before?" Elizabeth asked her as she made her way next to her.

"A few times, to sneak into and out of the house one must be able to pick a lock."

"Nice to know you are a girl of many talents," Mike whispered flashing her a smirk that she just shook her head at and ignored.

"This shouldn't take long at all…" she trailed off as she picked the lock. As she continued the warm glow of the early morning sun began to light the sky on the horizon.

"Hurry up," Jack hissed, seeing their time beginning to run short.

"Done," Nicole replied triumphantly, getting the sliding door to nudge over a bit, "You two stay here, I'll get the notebook."

"I know what it looks like, I'll help," Elizabeth said, moving aside as the sliding wood door was pulled over gently to allow them entrance.

"No, don't!" Mike said, grabbing Nicole's hand.

"Where would you rather us ladies be? In the hall where all those Germans will come running or inside with one German at our mercy?" Nicole cooed, getting the reaction she wanted and proceeded into the single room where she and Elizabeth could clearly see that the man in question was soundly asleep on a bed in the wall near the door.

"There," Elizabeth pointed, seeing her notebook out in the open.

Elizabeth carefully crept over to the table where the single leather-bound notebook was still sitting with a larger cleaner book sitting next to it with half-finished German translations written into it. Elizabeth knew that the Germans hadn't gotten all of it written down judging from the page that it was on from this. So she proceeded to reach out and snatch it right from under the nose of the sleeping Nazi who'd humiliated her by catching her off-guard, tying and gagging her to a chair, threatening her friends, her brother, and her. She couldn't wait to see his face when he realized he'd been outwitted.

However, she knew that seeing him awake was not something that should happen. She remembered the Luger that he'd pulled out to silence her when he'd first appeared. That pistol sat in a holster on a coat hanger within easy reach of the German who was still fast asleep. But that didn't last long, as soon as Elizabeth wrapped her fingers around the journal she noticed that her weight was being throw to the side as the train turned. This allowed light to flood into the room, and right into the face of the sleeping German. And he, it turned out, was a light sleeper when light was involved.

"Mmm…schon morgen?" he grumbled in his sleep as he rubbed his eyes.

This made Elizabeth gasp slightly, and snatched her notebook quickly and recklessly and knocked over an empty bottle on the table. And this did the trick to set off the alarm.

"Alarm!" the man shouted instantly but was cut off by Nicole bashing him in the nose with a closed fisted blow that shut him up and made him grab onto his now bleeding nose.

"Shit!" she hissed, pulling her borrowed pistol up and aimed it right at the man's face which was now staring at her in pure fury at what she and Nicole had just accomplished.

"You are dead mein fraulein," he hissed staring at the pistol and its holder with contempt, knowing that he'd gotten the call out and he and they could hear the shouting of the men in the carriage, "You should have taken my advice, a pity."

"Yeah well I take to threats too kindly," Elizabeth remarked, grabbing the Luger and its holster from the coat hanger, "I think I'll take this, I need one of my own anyway, and this is just my style."

Elizabeth handed the Walther over to Nicole who smiled at the guts exhibited by her friend and now held the two pistols in both hands awkwardly. Then a shout came from around the corner.

"Ladies time to go!" Jack said, and then a single shot rang out.

Elizabeth and Nicole instantly knew that this was not over, and scrambled to leave as the German scowled at them confidently knowing that his men would, more than likely capture or kill every one of them. The shouting in German was now a clear indicator that there were several more than four Germans on board the train and all were up and ready to go. Which meant that for the three of them, it too was time to go.

"Let's go!" Mike ordered and began running towards the exit but a German burst from his door wearing black trousers and white shirt and fired a single round from his Luger at them.

The round missed wide and shattered a window and now the smoke from the train began seeping in with the cold howling wind.

"Fuck, not that way!" Mike said, firing back with his powerful Colt 1911 and forced the German into cover as they ducked back to the front of the train.

"We're trapped back here!" Elizabeth said, seeing that the door was locked that would have led them to the coal car.

To that Jack just aimed his revolver and fired into the door handle and with a small shower of sparks and splinters turned into a swinging door.

"Go! Get on the top of the train and run to the back!" Jack ordered, turning and firing his revolver again at a German as he tried leaning around the doorway of the room he was in.

Elizabeth was the first one out, followed by Nicole. But as Jack made a move to follow them a bullet shattered the glass behind him and he took cover as Mike fired back.

"Come on!" Elizabeth ordered, "We gotta go!"

"We'll be right behind ya, don't worry about us! Remember? We're Americans, a Cowboy and a Gangster, this is practically our day job," Mike said confidently, winking to Nicole who grinned at the proclamation.

"Come Lizzy," Nicole beckoned, climbing up a ladder that would let her run on top of the carriages.

Elizabeth hesitantly followed her, and the two of them started running carefully on top of the coaches, their boots making loud thuds that the men inside could clearly hear. And so with the cover of two men three of the Germans stormed down into the hallway and made an effort to give chase. One of them carried an MP40 submachine gun.

"Come on!" Nicole said as she jumped onto the dining coach. As soon as Elizabeth joined her a roar of automatic weapons fire erupted behind her and a shower of splinters sprayed into the air where she had been not a moment before.

"Run!" Nicole beckoned and the two of them sprinted down the top of the moving coach as the rising sun illuminated them as they endeavored on a course of action only seen in the movies and imaginations of Wild West authors. Bullets tore through the roof as the Germans tried desperately to stop their escape to the back. Nicole had had enough as soon as she got to the next coach and stopped and aimed one of her pistols down into the doorway and waited for one of the Germans to show his face. And as soon as the first one ran to pull open the door Nicole fired three shots that hammered into the man's upper chest and threw him back into the dining hall. But the other two returned fire with an MP40 and a Luger making her nearly slip and fall as she tried avoiding the bullets.

But as then she got up and ran forward to join Elizabeth who was at the caboose already, kneeling down behind the small house looking structure on top. But then she stumbled and tripped onto one of the stovepipes on the roof and fell to the roof with painful hit to her knee. At the same time the train went into another turn and she was spun to the side and rolled. With a terrified scream she nearly fell to the rapidly passing grasses and rocks below if not for a pipe running on top of the edge that her backpack snagged onto. She was hanging by the straps of her pack, her legs flailing desperately as the ground rushed by her menacingly. The wind bit at her face as the ask from the train's smoke stack stung her eyes a bit.

Then, much to her surprise and terror, a hand smashed the glass next to her head and she felt her shirt being grabbed and pulled through the glass. She grabbed onto her pack at the last moment and brought it down right onto the head of the German who had pulled her from dangling on the side of the train.

"Unhand me!" she shouted desperately, and felt her pistol smacked to the floor and then felt something similar happen to her face and was thrown back onto the floor. The lock of a weapon being loaded shot her eyes to the barrel of the MP40 aiming right between her eyes. But then a single and rather unexpected thing happened that neither she nor the Nazis had seen coming. A loud war cry emanating from the outside signaled the two of them to look out the window they'd just smashed. Two boots worn by a certain blonde haired girl met their faces with a smash that sent them into the wall.

"That's what happens when you-," Elizabeth started but the sound of bullets snapping be her head surprised her and made her and Nicole duck down.

"No time for your American trash talk! Come on!" Nicole beckoned.

The two of them continued their cat and mouse game with their pursuers and continually evaded the Nazis attacking them. But in the front of the train it was still a fight. Jack and Mike were still firing and ducking down as bullets whistled and snapped past their heads and shattered the veneer wood they took cover behind. Jack and Mike knew that they had to try and keep the Nazis occupied so that the girls could make a run for it to the rear of the train. But as the pounding of the bootsteps alerted everyone present as to where the girls were headed two Germans dove forward and fired their Lugers at Mike and Jack who ducked back as five rounds tore at them. Before one of the men could get away Mike fired a single heavy forty five caliber round the lifted the man up off the ground and slammed into the wall. Mike whooped with triumph as he fired again but realized that he was out of ammo.

But as the click of the empty gun sounded out Mike was struck from out of nowhere by a fist that came plowing into his face from around the corner. As he hit the ground next to Jack he remembered the single man in the room next to him was still there. The man rushed around the corner, intent on finishing the job. Thankfully Jack was there and a left hook met the German in the face and sent him sprawling back. Mike scrambled to his feet as Jack dove forward, and took cover behind the doorway that had not a moment ago been where the girls had snatched the journal.

"How many?!" Mike asked loudly as he slammed a clip into his pistol.

"At least four, not counting this feller!" Jack responded as he aimed and fired again, and hit a German right in chest and saw him crumple into the hall, "Make that three."

"Jack!" Mike yelled as his friend tried to reload.

But when Jack looked up he was already being tackled right into the room he was taking cover inside of. He felt himself pinned to the ground and a fist came rocketing into his face from the German leader and he struggled to bring his right arm up to block the next one. He the swung his pistol barrel into the guy's face and slammed into wall with the force of the blow and then lifted his legs and kicked him clean through it. But unfortunately, as the man tumbled through the small hole in the wall Jack saw that one of the German henchman was inside and holding a submachine gun and aimed right through the hole and fired. Bullets tore up the carpet as Jack rolled to the edge of the wall to get out of the line of fire.

The German chased him down, and soon had the deadly weapon a foot away from Jack's face, and Jack stared at what he thought was sure to be the weapon that was going to end his life.

"No you don't Jerry!"

The sound of a gunshot ran out and the weapon tumbled down into Jack's lap as a small spurt of blood trickled onto his clothes from Mike's perfectly timed gunshot.

"Thanks pal," Jack said with a heavy breath.

"No time to thank me yet, come on!" he said, and then grabbed the German weapon and moved into the doorframe as he could hear the Germans starting to reload, "I've got an idea, follow me."

Without much warning than that Mike took off at a full sprint, firing the automatic weapon from the hip as he went, shattering the wood and sending splinters everywhere. It was a perfect way to make the Germans duck and gave Jack and Mike the perfect way to make an attempted escape. They charged through the door into the hall of the next carriage. Gunshots and yelling came from directly behind them. Mike stopped one last time to empty the magazine and force the Germans to duck one last time and gave the two of them the final seconds needed to run like hell.

As the two guys ran like Olympic sprinters the two girls were running out of places to run. They'd made it to the caboose with two Germans still armed and dangerous right on their tails. The two of them ducked down behind a stack of crates that was sitting on both sides of the caboose and waited. But they continued to hear gunfire behind them, which now gave them the time to realize that the boys were still fighting the majority of the Germans. But their thoughts were cut short when the door they'd locked behind them began shuddering as the Germans on the other side pounded at it, trying to gain entry. They both raised their weapons, and waited.

"This will be easy Lizzy," Nicole stated as the shouting continued, "They have to come through that door. We'll be able to easily pick them off."

"If you say so," Elizabeth responded and aimed her stolen Luger at the shaking door.

But then a hole was shot through the wood, splintering part of the board the hole was in. Then another shot and a scream. Then voices came from the other side.

"Lizzy! Nicole! Open up!"

"Mike!" Elizabeth shouted, running to open the door and let in her brother and Jack.

As soon as she opened the door Mike stormed in with Jack right behind him, firing his revolver at the coach they'd just exited. Bullets tore past them, and everyone inside ducked down into cover with Nicole and Mike firing back as Jack grabbed Elizabeth and yanked her down and threw his body over her for protection from the shrapnel from all of the fire coming at them.

"We gotta get off this train!" Nicole stated, making her way to the rear of the caboose and kicked open the door.

"What jump?!" Mike asked, "Are you crazy?!"

"It's either jumping or being turned into Swiss Cheese. Nothing against the Swiss, they're fine people but I like being Monterey Jack thank you very much," Nicole snapped.

"Whatever, we're gonna do can we hurry things along?" Jack asked.

"I vote we jump," Elizabeth called out, getting out from under Jack's protective human shield.

Bullets tore into the caboose once more, and that made up Mike's mind, "Alright, we jump, girls you first!" he ordered, moving back and covering them alongside Jack.

"Go!" Jack yelled.

Nicole was already at the edge and with Elizabeth right behind her she said a quick prayer and took a deep breath before jumping into the cool early morning air. With Elizabeth less than a second behind they both hit a steep embankment and instantly began rolling down the twenty foot high hill in the wet dew covered grass and weeds. They each hit and fell onto a few pointy sticks, rocks and other items but by the time they stopped rolling and sliding they were able to catch a glimpse of Jack and Mike both tumbling down the hill about fifty yards away, much less gracefully. However, their trip didn't end dry like theirs had. Instead, a small creek bordered by shrubs and trees awaited the two guys who fell face first into its cold waters.

"Mike, Jack!" Elizabeth yelled, seeing her brother and friend falling off the train.

Both she and Nicole rushed to the creek to see Jack helping Mike out of the water, sopping wet. The two of them were not happy at all, and made that quite clear. Mike looked up at Nicole was stifling giggles at their condition and along with Elizabeth were both silently relieved they were alright. Everyone was okay, they'd made it. But that left some unfinished business for Mike, who wasn't happy at all about being soaking wet in the cold early morning.

"Jump huh?"

**And there's the second of hopefully many action scenes to come. I worked for a long time on this over the Thanksgiving Holiday, and had managed a couple minutes to finish up the editing portion of it before I went to bed. Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. **

**Please leave a review sharing your thoughts on it and what all you think of the story thus far.**

**Next Chapter Preview: Indiana Jones has to track down some kids who are now in way over their heads, and worse still, he has competition.**


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